Police: Woman Was Waiting In Car For Tow Truck When She Was Struck, Killed On L.I.
BAY SHORE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A woman thought she was playing it safe by waiting for a tow truck in her car, but where she parked ended up making the difference between life and death.
As CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reported, Jessica Ortiz was a beautiful 21-year-old college student with a bright future. But Ortiz was killed in a tragic accident in Bay Shore, Long Island Wednesday afternoon while sitting in her parked car.
She was pulled over on the shoulder of the Sunrise Highway for a flat tire.
"As the tow truck operator began to assist her, the second vehicle swerved out of the lane of traffic onto the shoulder, hitting Ms. Ortiz's vehicle and forcing that vehicle into the tow truck," said Suffolk County police Detective Lt. Edward Reilly.
The 51-year-old man driving the Chevrolet Caprice that slammed into Ortiz's vehicle was critically injured, but survived. Police on Thursday did not know what caused him to veer off the highway.
Ortiz was parked on the shoulder right before the mouth of an on-ramp. She had three busy lanes of the Sunrise Highway on her left, and the on-ramp and two service road lanes on her right.
She chose to stay in her car to wait for help to arrive.
"Where she was, literally stuck in the middle of lanes of traffic, the more safe choice she had was to stay with her car -- and that's what she did," Reilly said.
Robert Sinclair from AAA said it is best for people to drive slowly on a flat tire until they reach a safe place off a highway.
"You have to play it by ear," Sinclair said. "Every circumstance is different."
Sinclair had some advice for drivers who must pull over on the shoulder.
"You get out of the vehicle, and you stay to the rear of the vehicle -- as much as 60 feet to the rear of the vehicle -- so that oncoming traffic can see you; can warn them that somebody might be there," Sinclair said.
On Thursday afternoon, yellow caution tape still marked the place where Ortiz would have had to exit her car. It was a dangerous position no matter what the choice.
As of Thursday afternoon, the 51-year-old surviving driver remained hospitalized. Police said as of Thursday, there was no evidence that he was driving while impaired.
The investigation continued late Thursday.
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