A woman died in a two-vehicle accident Tuesday morning, marking Cape Coral’s first traffic fatality of 2010.
Pamela A. Fillak, 61, of 926 S.W. Eighth Place, suffered fatal injuries when the 2000 Oldsmobile Intrigue she was driving was struck on the driver’s side door by a pickup truck. Fillak was pinned inside the Oldsmobile, according to Cape Coral Police Department spokeswoman Connie Barron.
Police and fire units responded to a 911 call at 9:07 a.m. of an accident with injuries at the intersection of Chiquita Boulevard and Kismet Parkway, Barron said. Fillak was traveling northbound on Chiquita when she apparently stopped at the stop sign at the intersection of Kismet.
Paul Phillip Guard, 55, of 422 S.W. 38th Ave., was traveling east on Kismet in a 2000 Chevy Silverado Super Crew pickup truck and approaching the intersection of Chiquita. According to Barron, the Oldsmobile entered the intersection into the path of the truck, which had the right of way.
Barron said the impact carried the two vehicles through the intersection and into the median on Kismet. Fillak was pronounced dead at the scene, while Guard suffered injuries that were not life-threatening. He was taken to Lee Memorial Hospital.
Guard had been released from the hospital by Tuesday evening, according to Lee Memorial Health System spokeswoman Karen Krieger.
The investigation is ongoing, Barron reported.
In 2009, Cape Coral recorded nine traffic fatalities with the first occurring Feb. 1 when a man was ejected from a motorcycle he was operating after he crashed into a utility pole off Santa Barbara Boulevard. Of the nine fatalities, three involved motorcycles, five were vehicle-related and one involved a bicyclist.
There were 2,570 traffic crash fatalities statewide in 2009, “the lowest in 18 years,” according to a report from the Florida Highway Patrol. Fatalities totaled 2,983 in 2008 with 77 of those crashes taking place in Lee County.