Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
Two cousins were struck by separate vehicles, one fatally, while crossing a street in Amityville on Friday night, according to the Suffolk County Police Department. Pablo Serrano, 61, of Woodside, Queens, was killed and his cousin Claralee Correa, 45, of Brooklyn, was injured in the double collision at the intersection of Broadway and Oak Street around 8:10 p.m.
The pedestrians were walking from the northwest corner to the northeast corner of Broadway and Oak Street “on foot in a posted crosswalk” when they were struck by two vehicles in rapid succession, police said. The first vehicle to hit them was an eastbound 2003 Mercury Mountaineer that was turning left onto Broadway from Oak Street. Immediately following that collision, the driver of a 2010 Orion Bus belonging to Suffolk County Transit, traveling behind the Mercury, also struck the pedestrians.
Serrano was declared dead at the scene, while Correa was transported to Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip with what police described as “nonlife-threatening injuries.” Neither of the drivers involved in the collision sustained injuries during the incident.
In an email statement, the Suffolk police press office confirmed that “the pedestrians were walking in the crosswalk and had the right of way.” Despite this, no charges were filed against either driver. “No one was issued a summons, ticket, arrested or otherwise charged,” police said, adding “There was no criminality.”
Emergency response to the scene was significant, with around two dozen first responders arriving Friday night, including members of the Amityville and North Amityville fire departments, along with Amityville and Suffolk police and other emergency personnel. The Suffolk County Transit bus remained angled in the intersection of Broadway and Oak Street as crews worked the scene. Suffolk County Transit could not be immediately reached for comment regarding the incident.
According to the U.S. Transportation Department, approximately 11% of fatal pedestrian crashes involve at least two vehicles, making this type of collision relatively uncommon but not unprecedented.
Location & Road Context
The collision occurred at the intersection of Broadway and Oak Street in Amityville, a busy commercial area in Suffolk County. This intersection sees regular pedestrian traffic, with marked crosswalks connecting the corners of the intersection.
The crash adds to Long Island’s concerning pedestrian safety statistics. In 2024, the most recent year for which complete statistics are available, 308 pedestrians in New York State were killed by drivers, including 63 on Long Island: 37 in Suffolk County and 26 in Nassau County, according to tallies by the University at Albany-based Institute for Traffic Safety Management & Research. Newsday has reported that roads on Long Island are among the state’s deadliest for pedestrians and bicyclists to navigate.
Broader Impact
The incident highlights the ongoing pedestrian safety crisis on Long Island, where Newsday investigations have found that drivers involved in crashes that kill pedestrians and bicyclists rarely face criminal charges, even when pedestrians have the right of way as in this case. A comprehensive Newsday investigation revealed that traffic crashes killed more than 2,100 people between 2014 and 2023 and seriously injured more than 16,000 people across Long Island. On average, a traffic crash causing death, injury or significant property damage occurs every seven minutes on Long Island, underscoring the frequency and severity of traffic incidents in the region.