One Killed, Another Injured in Collision with Tree

A financial adviser from Lakewood Ranch was killed in a fatal accident.

Details about the Fatal Accident

WWSB News is reporting that a financial adviser from Lakewood Ranch was killed in a major accident that happened at University Parkway and Lorraine Road on Thursday evening in Manatee.

70-year-old Wallace Hough, who was the driver at the time of the accident, was pronounced dead at the scene after his Chrysler van collided with a tree. His passenger, 70-year-old Janet Hough, was extracted from the vehicle and transported to the Sarasota Memorial Hospital with serious injuries.

Hough worked as a financial adviser at Merrill Lynch and operated out of Lakewood.

The Florida Highway Patrol indicates that Hough was heading east on University Parkway at about 10 p.m. in the far left lane, when he approached the intersection of Miramar Way, veered off of the roadway, and into a raised median before colliding with a tree.

Important Information about Collisions with Fixed Objects

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, there are thousands of wrongful deaths of people that happened every year in the United States that involve collisions with fixed objects:

• Nearly 20 percent of all motor vehicle accident fatalities happen as a result of a vehicle leaving the roadway and colliding with a fixed object.
• 7,508 people were killed in collisions with fixed objects in 2014.
• 47 percent of people who were killed in collisions with fixed objects were killed in collisions with trees.