LAS VEGAS (FOX5) -
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police are investigating another wave of pedestrian vs. automobile accidents which happened overnight Friday.
The first one resulting in a death, as a 73-year-old man was hit crossing Tropicana in front of the Orleans Hotel and Casino, around 11 pm.
2012 has already been a deadly year on Southern Nevada's roads.
"My calculations put (Friday) night's fatality at number 27 for Clark County," said Erin Breen with UNLV's Safe Community Partnership.
Breen says there were 30 deaths in all of 2011.
"It's disappointing that we continue to have these fatals that are absolutely preventable," said Sgt. Todd Raybuck with LVMPD's Traffic Division.
Less than an hour after the first accident, police responded to another man found with injuries in the middle of the street on Arville, south of Spring Mountain.
The victim was taken to University Medical Center with critical head injuries.
At this point police aren't positive a vehicle was involved, but say it's possible this was a hit and run.
Then around 4 a.m. police say two pedestrians were hit by a pickup truck while jaywalking outside of the Palms Hotel and Casino, and were also later taken to UMC.
Breen said what's really unfortunate about these accidents is that pedestrian deaths were slowing, and that it had been more than two weeks since the last one.
"We don't like to say that out loud because we kind of feel like it tempts the fates but things had slowed down a little bit," said Breen.
Moving closer to the Fourth of July holiday, Breen said things could get worse before they get better.
"When we look at the last four years of data each of those four years, the Fourth of July was the most deadly holiday of the year," Breen told FOX5.
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