A fatal crash early Friday morning temporarily shut down northbound U.S. 41 in Sarasota County, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.
The crash occurred about 2:26 a.m. Aug. 14 on U.S. 41 at Baffin Drive, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff's Office deputies assisted the Florida Highway Patrol at the scene, and all northbound lanes of U.S. 41 at Baffin Drive were initially closed.
In an update sent shortly after 5 a.m., the Sheriff's Office said all northbound lanes had reopened.
The Florida Highway Patrol is the primary agency investigating the fatal crash.
No information about the person killed or the circumstances surrounding the crash was immediately released.
Florida’s 2026 crash statistics
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reports
there were 207,675 crashes in Florida through Aug. 6, 2026, including 1,511 fatalities.
The department’s Florida Crash Dashboard also reported 133,929 injuries, 1,401 fatal crashes and 89,253 injury crashes statewide during the same period.
Wade Tatangelo is the executive editor of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and Florida dining and entertainment editor for the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and X. He can be reached by email at wade.tatangelo@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Fatal crash closes U.S. 41 in Sarasota County early Friday
