Nassau County and New York State Police responded to a...

Nassau County and New York State Police responded to a fatal crash on the southbound Wantagh State Parkway south of North Jerusalem Road late Friday night  Credit: Paul Mazza

A New Hyde Park man was killed on the Wantagh State Parkway Friday night when he drove a Ford Mustang off the roadway and crashed into a light pole and several trees, according to the New York State Police.

The driver, Gaetano Decrescenzo, 68, was declared dead at the crash scene, according to a State Police news release issued Saturday.

The crash happened before 9 p.m. on the southbound side of the parkway, north of Exit 4, the release said.

While driving in the right lane, Decrescenzo's vehicle “left the roadway onto the right shoulder where it struck a light pole and then continued into the woods striking several trees,” the release said.

The release did not provide the driver’s speed or the cause of the crash.

So far this year, there have been 43 fatal crashes in Nassau, in which 45 people were killed (29 drivers, five passengers, 10 pedestrians and one bicyclist), and 60 fatal crashes in Suffolk, with 64 people killed (38 drivers, six passengers, 17 pedestrians and three bicyclists), according to preliminary tallies from the Albany-based Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research. The statistics are at least several weeks old.

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