By Jenn Abelson
Josephine Collman, 53, of Old Harbour St. Catherine in Jamaica, West Indies, had left the sidewalk on the south side of the road and stepped onto the highway, about 10 feet from the nearest crosswalk, as Thomas Prylucki traveled eastbound, according to Gary Ferrucci, a Nassau County homicide detective.
At least two witnesses told police that Prylucki, 50, had a green light and was traveling at the speed limit, Ferrucci said.
"There were other cars coming. You see the car hit her ... she flew," said witness Alex DiStefano.
Ferrucci said Prylucki said he didn't see Collman until he heard a thump and the windshield of his 1994 Ford Taurus shattered. Although police are still waiting for results from tests performed on the car, Ferrucci said, "This case is pretty much a tragic auto accident."
Prylucki, who declined to comment, was described by Lynbrook Police Officer Patrick Hahl as "badly shaken up, but not injured."
Hahl said Collman was pronounced dead at the scene. Most of the damage to Prylucki's car was on the side.
Ferrucci said Collman was visiting her daughter, Yolanda, a student at Hofstra University, and staying with a family friend in Elmont for several weeks. Collman, who worked as a teacher in Jamaica, had picked up some work as a healthcare aide in Lynbrook during her vacation.
Collman's daughter could not be reached for comment.
"This is sad beyond words," said Lynbrook resident Tom Milano, who said the stretch of road where the accident happened is "very dangerous and needs a uniformed policeman."
Two fatal accidents occurred last October at or near the same place on Sunrise Highway as the accident on Friday. An 80- year-old Lynbrook woman was killed as she attempted to cross Sunrise Highway at the Forest Avenue intersection.
The woman, Gertrude Dowdell, passed between two vehicles, a car and tractor trailer, which were stopped in the eastbound lanes at Forest Avenue waiting for the light to turn green. When it did, the driver of the truck was unable to see Dowdell as she crossed the road, began to move forwrd, striking her and knocking her down.
The other accident occurred just weeks later, when a 53 year-old Valley Stream resident was crushed by an overturned tractor trailer that failed to negotiate a curve on Sunrise Highway near Atlantic Avenue in heavy fog conditions.
The driver lost control of the truck, which fishtailed and rolled over on its passenger side, crushing a nearby car and killing its driver, Frank Lentino.
In November, Detective Fred Fusswinkle of the Lynbrook police reported that there have been approximately 80 accidents at the Sunrise Highway/Forest Avenue intersection in the last five years.
"This is a very heavily traveled highway and sometimes it becomes unassuming - people are not sure of roadway curvitures or turns," Ferrucci said. "It is unfortunate."
Angela Marshall contributed to this story
