By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Deputy Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

A MAN died early Friday morning after being hit by a pick-up truck.

This incident was one of two traffic fatalities in the country on Friday, the other occurring in Freeport, Grand Bahama (see story HERE).

In the capital, police said shortly after midnight, a man was walking in the northeast bound lane on Tonique Williams Darling Highway when a 1998 Ford F150 truck hit him.

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) were called to the scene, but were unable to revive him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said the driver of the truck remained on the scene and is assisting police with this investigation.

Traffic fatalities appear to be happening more frequently as earlier this year police reported that 54 people died as a result of traffic accidents in 2017.

According to the Royal Bahamas Police Force crime statistics, released last month, there were 118 traffic incidents with serious injuries and 2,207 accidents with minor injuries in the same period.

The 54 traffic related deaths that occurred in 2017 represent an increase when compared to the 2016 total.

In 2016 there were 44 recorded traffic related deaths. In 2015, there were 55 traffic related deaths— the most in a year since 2009, when 56 people were killed.

In 2017, 54 people were killed in 49 separate accidents. The majority of these occurred on New Providence, where there were 33 fatal accidents. Five fatal accidents occurred in Grand Bahama, four in Abaco, three in Andros and one each in Exuma, Bimini, Long Island, and Eleuthera.

New Providence also recorded three double traffic fatalities, Grand Bahama two, and Abaco one.