Two holiday car accidents involved High Springs residents

HIGH SPRINGS – A High Springs man died early on the morning of Dec. 26 when his car veered off the road and hit a mailbox, according to a Florida Highway Patrol crash report. Alachua County EMS determined that Daniel S. Bright Jr., 53, likely suffered a heart attack before the accident.

Bright was delivering newspapers at about 6 a.m. and heading west on NW 142nd Avenue when he traveled up onto the south embankment and struck a mailbox. He next hit the north embankment and then traveled back across the roadway where the car stopped, facing southwest along the south edge of the road.

Bright’s death comes a week after two cars crashed head on while driving on Alachua County Road 239 just south of State Road 121.

On Dec. 17, at about 1 a.m., James Robert Mann, 47, of Valdosta, Ga., was driving north on C.R. 239 when his four-dour Chrysler veered into oncoming traffic and hit a four-door Mercury driven by Earl Emmitt Freeney, 66, of High Spings.

Both drivers were wearing seatbelts, according to the crash report.

Mann had to be extricated from his car by Alachua County Fire Rescue and was taken to Shands at the University of Florida in critical condition.

Earl Emmitt Freeney, 66, of High Springs was taken to Shands in serious condition.

Both have been released from Shands, said FHP Trooper Javon Murphy. He said Mann continues to recover from several broken bones.

An investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing, Murphy said.