Pedestrian, 79, and car passenger, 20, killed in separate weekend crashes

Two crashes in Nassau County left two dead this weekend, marking the latest in a string of fatalities on Long Island roads this summer.

There have been around three dozen deaths since Aug. 1, according to news releases from police in Nassau and Suffolk counties. Seventeen of those have involved pedestrian deaths, including two bicyclists and a man on an electric scooter, Newsday has reported.

Those numbers do not include the latest fatalities — a 79-year-old man struck while crossing Hempstead Turnpike in East Meadow on Saturday evening, and a 20-year-old woman killed early Sunday after the car she was traveling in hit multiple trees along Peninsula Boulevard in Rockville Centre.

The 79-year-old was crossing the roadway near Autoworld Kia on Hempstead Turnpike at 7:25 p.m. when he was struck by the driver of a 2017 Lincoln sport utility vehicle, Nassau police said in a news release. 

The pedestrian suffered severe trauma and was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead by a staff physician, according to police.

The driver, a 78-year-old male, remained at the scene. An investigation is ongoing, police said.

Police did not release the names of the pedestrian or the driver.

The Rockville Centre crash, where the young woman was pronounced dead at the scene, left two others in critical condition, police said in a news release. The driver, a 20-year-old man, and another passenger, a 32-year-old woman, both sustained serious injuries and were transported to a nearby hospital.

The driver, operating a 2010 Nissan Altima, lost control of the car and struck several trees just before 4:30 a.m. while traveling near the Southern State Parkway, according to police. An investigation is ongoing.

The names of the driver and two passengers were not released.

A Newsday analysis in 2021 found that Long Island roads are among New York State's deadliest to walk and bike, but few drivers involved in crashes that kill pedestrians and bicyclists face criminal charges.

There were 74,683 crashes on Long Island in 2022 — 38,935 in Nassau and 35,748 in Suffolk, according to preliminary statistics maintained by the University at Albany-based Institute for Traffic Safety Management & Research. In those crashes, 80 were killed and 14,572 injured in Nassau and 157 were killed and 13,560 injured in Suffolk. Of those who died, 21 in Nassau were pedestrians and 52 in Suffolk were pedestrians.