A tragic incident unfolded in Boynton Beach where a 98-year-old man was fatally struck by a vehicle driven by an 86-year-old, local authorities reported. According to BocaNewsNow.com, the elderly pedestrian, George Fortier, was hit Monday afternoon while on a stroll near his home on Summer Tree Drive.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office revealed that the accident occurred as the driver, George Rullman, was navigating his 2010 Mercedes GLK 350 along a curve on the road, when he struck Fortier, "vaulting him into the air, and throwing him a short distance from the point of impact, to the surface of the roadway," as stated in the PBSO report which also said the pedestrian lived nearby on the same street. Unfortunately, despite being rushed to Delray Medical Center, Fortier succumbed to his injuries just hours later, and while the investigation is ongoing, no charges have been filed against Rullman yet, the driver who stayed at the scene was not injured.
WPTV reported that the incident took place around 3:26 p.m. east of Florida's Turnpike and west of Jog Road. Rullman was making a right-hand curve at 7288 Summer Tree Drive when he collided with Fortier, who was walking westbound on the southern edge of the roadway.
Authorities continue to investigate the dynamics of the collision, the neighborhood left to grapple with the grim reality of a life cut short and another forever changed, questions linger as to what precipitated Rullman's loss of control over his Mercedes and whether age-related factors played a part the driver remained on the scene and was not injured, beyond the trauma that such an event inevitably sears into the memory of those involved; George Rullman's connection to the street where the crash occurred, residing as he did, on the very same stretch of Summer Tree Drive.
