COLLIER COUNTY, FL – According to Fox4noe.com the Florida Highway Patrol is searching for a driver who fatally struck a woman from Immokalee and then fled the scene. The deadly accident took place on Tuesday, November 27, 2018, on Lake Trafford Road at a little after 7 in the evening. The victim was identified as […]
COLLIER COUNTY, FL – According to Fox4noe.com the Florida Highway Patrol is searching for a driver who fatally struck a woman from Immokalee and then fled the scene. The deadly accident took place on Tuesday, November 27, 2018, on Lake Trafford Road at a little after 7 in the evening.
The victim was identified as Marita Gonzalez, 71. Gonzalez was walking in the eastbound lane when she was killed. The vehicle that was involved is suspected to be a Mercury sedan that has damage on its front end around the bumper and the headlight.
Updates from troopers indicate that a Mercury Grand Marquis has now been impounded and is suspected to be involved in the case. Police are asking that anyone with information about the incident come forward.
According to AAA, hit-and-run crashes have been increasing in the United States. In 2016, 2049 people died in accidents in which a driver fled the scene. The majority of victims in these accidents are pedestrians and cyclists. About 605 percent of individuals killed by hit-and-run drivers are either cyclists or pedestrians. About one out of every five people who are killed in a pedestrian crash is killed by a person who flees the scene.
Studies have attempted to understand what motivates a driver to flee the scene of a crash. These people likely experience a surge of intense emotions including shame, fear, and guilt. If the driver is under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, there may be more of a motivation to flee, and the person may also have less impulse control than if they were sober. Many hit-and-run drivers are never caught. It is therefore difficult to determine how many of these drivers were under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash.