Driver in Southern Parkway crash dies

A 90-year-old West Hempstead man whose car crashed into a tree on the right-hand shoulder of the eastbound Southern State Parkway Monday morning has died, State Police said.

State Police identified him as Eugene Bonacci.

Investigators were trying to determine whether Bonacci suffered a medical episode before the crash, police said.

The accident occurred near Exit 30, North Broadway, in North Massapequa, at about 7:20 a.m., police said. The state Department of Transportation reported two lanes were closed as a result of the accident and were reopened at 8:38 a.m.

Police said witnesses reported the car was traveling in the left-hand lane of the parkway when it drove onto the center median, then re-entered the parkway, crossing all three eastbound lanes before driving onto the right-hand shoulder and hitting the tree.

Bonacci was taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Bethpage, where he was pronounced dead.

Police said the driver "wasn't traveling at a high rate of speed" before the crash.

No other vehicles were involved in the accident.