3 injured in head-on crash on Wiscon

Her home sits 500 feet from the road.

She was watching television in her living room.

Laura Jenks' peaceful day was interrupted by a horrifying sound that shook her house.

She heard the two-vehicle crash Thursday afternoon along Wiscon Road. It sounded like it happened a few feet from her door.

Afterward she felt a deep sense of dread.

"It was a loud boom," Jenks said. "I knew it was bad as soon as I heard it."

Three people were hospitalized after two vans collided shortly before 1 p.m. in front of the entrance to Jericho Road Ministries Thrift Store.

Two were transported by ambulance to nearby Brooksville Regional Hospital, while another was airlifted to Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point, according to Hernando County Fire Rescue. The trauma patient was listed in serious condition.

Moments earlier, a driver of a Buick sedan was driving toward his home along Montego Street when he lost control and flipped his car. It came to rest in his front yard, according to Spring Hill Fire Rescue.

The driver was not seriously injured and was seen walking into his house, firefighters said.

Several accidents were reported throughout Hernando County from Thursday night until Friday afternoon, including one involving a 14-year-old Explorer K-8 student who was hospitalized Friday after being struck down and run over by a van along Landover Boulevard, authorities said.

"It comes in spurts sometimes," said Spring Hill Fire Chief Mike Rampino. "We're consistently inconsistent when it comes to accidents."

Richard Reynolds lives near Jenks along Dentala Street — a small road that runs perpendicular to Wiscon and is east of California Street.

He was backing into his driveway when he heard one vehicle crashing into another at top speed.

He instantly called 911.

"It was a big ka-bang," Reynolds said. "It was metal against metal."

It wasn't an unfamiliar sound to him.

"People fly down here like it's a 65 mph road," said Reynolds.

The speed limit along the two-lane road, which runs from U.S. 41 to State Road 50, is 55 mph.

Both Reynolds and Jenks stood along the south shoulder and watched from a distance as paramedics worked the scene. The front end of a GMC Safari was flattened, as was the front left side of a Chrysler Town & Country.

More information on the accident could not be obtained prior to deadline Thursday.

Theresa Lesanta heard the chorus of sirens and had a strong feeling it was another accident. She has seen and heard several of them along Wiscon.

Her husband's vehicle was damaged two years earlier as he was pulling into the couple's driveway, located near the California intersection.

When the traffic light is green, people come roaring through, she said.

"I have people swerving around me when I'm pulling in. People drive down this street like it's a racetrack."