A 24-year-old West Palm Beach man died Monday afternoon after being struck by an SUV while crossing South Military Trail outside a marked crosswalk late the night before, the latest in a string of pedestrian crashes along a corridor that safety planners have flagged as one of the county's most dangerous. The man, identified in crash reports by his initials L.G., was hit in the 1900 block of South Military Trail in unincorporated West Palm Beach around 11:43 p.m. on August 30, and he succumbed to his injuries at St. Mary's Medical Center at 12:07 p.m. the next day.
According to The Boca Raton Tribune, L.G. dashed from west to east mid-block, outside of any marked crosswalk, directly into the path of a 2020 GMC Terrain SLT traveling southbound in the outside right lane. The SUV's right front struck him, and he was thrown onto the pavement after hitting the vehicle's fender, hood, and windshield. He was initially transported to St. Mary's in critical condition before dying from his injuries.
The driver, a 42-year-old West Palm Beach woman identified as M.L.R., was wearing her seatbelt and was not injured in the crash, per the same crash narrative. She stopped in an adjacent shopping plaza entrance and rendered aid to L.G. until emergency medical personnel arrived. Investigators noted alcohol or drugs were suspected as a factor for L.G., but not for the driver. Next of kin were present at the hospital, and the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office has been notified of his death.
Sheriff's Office Investigation Continues
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Vehicle Homicide Investigation Unit is investigating the fatal crash, which carries case number 26-090037, and the case remains under active investigation. Under Florida law, pedestrians crossing outside a marked crosswalk must yield to oncoming vehicles, and mid-block crossing between signalized intersections is explicitly prohibited, according to Florida Statutes § 316.130. Traffic homicide investigators typically weigh those statutory rules when determining fault in fatal pedestrian crashes.
This is not an isolated incident on this stretch of roadway. Just weeks earlier, on August 13, a 58-year-old pedestrian was critically injured crossing South Military Trail at Pipers Glen Boulevard outside a marked crosswalk, a crash Hoodline covered in a Pipers Glen crash report. Back on May 29, a 65-year-old pedestrian was killed on South Military Trail at Forest Hill Boulevard under nearly identical circumstances, stepping into oncoming traffic mid-block, according to the Boca Post.
A Corridor Flagged as Uniquely Dangerous
The pattern is not coincidental, according to traffic safety analysis. Half of Palm Beach County's ten most hazardous intersections sit along the Military Trail corridor, including its junctions with Okeechobee Boulevard, Forest Hill Boulevard, West Atlantic Avenue and 10th Avenue North, per research compiled by Demand The Limits. That same research found that while only 12 percent of Palm Beach County roadways have three or more lanes, those wide arterial roads account for 84 percent of all fatal pedestrian and bicyclist crashes countywide.
The Palm Beach County Safety Action Plan classifies South Military Trail as the longest priority safety corridor in southern Palm Beach County, noting that long distances between signalized crosswalks separate major commercial development from residential neighborhoods, according to an ArcGIS StoryMap outlining the plan. That design leaves pedestrians facing multi-block gaps before reaching a marked crossing, a factor cited elsewhere as a driver of mid-block crossing attempts like the one that killed L.G.
Pedestrian Deaths Add Up Across the County and State
Palm Beach County recorded 760 pedestrian crashes among 25,595 total traffic accidents in 2025, according to Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles data reported by Broward Crash Injury Law Firm. That came even as the county's overall fatal crash total fell nearly 25 percent from 2024, with preliminary 2025 data showing 144 fatal crashes resulting in 156 deaths, per Steinger, Greene & Feiner, a law firm with no dossier-provided link.
The problem extends well beyond Palm Beach County. Florida ranked as the fifth deadliest state in the nation for pedestrians in Smart Growth America's “Dangerous by Design 2026” report, which documented 3,726 pedestrian deaths statewide between 2020 and 2024, as reported by Morningstar. Statewide, pedestrian fatalities reached 701 deaths during 2024-2025, accounting for roughly 22 percent of all traffic deaths in Florida, according to Jacobson Injury Firm, a firm not otherwise linked in the dossier.
For now, investigators with the Sheriff's Office continue piecing together the details of Sunday night's crash under case number 26-090037. No additional details about potential charges or findings have been released as the investigation remains active.
