New York – A pedestrian who was walking his dog on a suburban street in Nassau County, Long Island was struck by a car in a hit-and-run accident. The injured man was rushed to the closest hospital emergency room but doctors were unable to save his life. The victim’s accident injuries were so severe that he went into a traumatic cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving in the hospital. According to reports from the car accident scene, the man driving the vehicle hit the pedestrian victim and his dog just after midnight. He apparently fled the scene of the accident, which is a felony when the car accident involves personal injuries. A New York accident attorney notes that the charges can be even more severe when the car crash kills the victim. In this case, police say that the driver who caused the accident initially left the scene but then returned for an unknown reason. Police arrested the driver and report that he tested negative for alcohol or drugs. These factors can improve the chances that the man can avoid more serious criminal charges, such as drunk driving. However, according to the accident lawyer, this does not protect the driver from a civil lawsuit such as a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit.

It will now become the job of investigators to determine what caused the deadly accident. Common causes that will need to be further investigated include the man being a distracted driver due to talking on a cell phone, texting while driving and eating while behind the wheel. Experts also explain that the driver may have become tired and fell asleep behind the wheel, possibly more likely due to the hour at which the motor vehicle accident occurred. Public safety advocates say that drivers are responsible to pull over to the side of the road for a rest period if they are tired. Driving while tired can be a form of negligence that endangers the safety of everyone else on the road. Reports show that the man had just finished work in a local hospital when and was on his way home when the car collision occurred. Police may need to speak to his co-workers and his supervisor in order to determine more about the man’s behavior prior to getting into his car to drive home. Check out more details about this deadly car accident here.

Photo by U.S. Navy photo by Tom Watanabe. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons