    It took less than 5 hours for South Dakota to register its first traffic death of 2023.
The Highway Patrol says a pedestrian walking east on Hwy 46 about 5 miles east of Marty was hit and killed at 4:49 Sunday morning.
     The driver did not stop and authorities have not yet identified the individual or the vehicle. The name of the 42-year old man who was killed has not been released, pending notification of family.Â
What may have been South Dakota’s last traffic fatality of 2022 occurred about 90-minutes before the year ended as a 40-year old woman was killed in a 2-vehicle accident about 7-miles west of Canton at a highway junction.
The Highway Patrol says the woman was southbound on Hwy 115 when her SUV collided with an SUV eastbound on Hwy 18. The woman, who was wearing a seatbelt, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The 57-year old male driver of the other SUV, who was not wearing a seatbelt, had to be extricated from his vehicle.
He was airlifted to a Sioux Falls hospital with life-threatening injuries. The Patrol says charges are pending against him.