The 4th of July proved deadly for four individuals involved in a head-on collision in Yaphank, Long Island, Suffolk County Police reported.
The accident occurred shortly before 11 p.m. when a man driving a 1990 Chevy pickup lost control of his truck and crossed over the center line of the Yaphank-Middle Island Road, striking a 2014 Nissan Altima with four adult passengers and an 11-month old infant boy.
The impact of the fatal collision caused both the Chevy and the Altima to burst into flames.
The 25-year-old man driving the pickup was killed in the wreck, authorities reported, as were a woman and two men in the Altima. Another passenger in the Nissan was transported with head injuries and life-threatening burns to East Patchogue’s Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center. The baby boy received treatment for injuries not considered to life-threatening at Stony Brook University Hospital and is expected to recover.
No matter how carefully one drives or plans their trip, safety can always be compromised by another driver’s actions. Sometimes the fault lies with the actual conditions of the road itself, such as if there are hazards that make driving more dangerous than usual at puts drivers and passengers at a high risk of having an accident with injuries or deaths.
Of course, nothing can bring back a lost loved one after their life is tragically snuffed out in an automobile accident. But survivors may take some small measure of comfort in holding those drivers or the agencies or entities tasked with maintaining safe roads free of undue hazards responsible for the loss of loved ones’ lives.
Source: New York Daily News, “Long Island crash on Fourth of July kills four, injures baby,” Stephen Rex Brown, July 05, 2016