For the second time this month, a South County resident has been killed after being run over in a driveway.

Police said Gary Lamson, 69, was standing in his driveway in the 1000 block of Grouse Way at about 10:05 a.m. Tuesday when his wife, Joan, 71, got into the couple's 2010 Lexus LS460.

Lamson tried to stop his wife, according to a Florida Highway Patrol Report, but she hit him with the front of the sedan. The 69-year-old Lamson fell and was run over. He was later pronounced dead at Venice Regional Medical Center.

Authorities provided no other details about the accident, including whether Joan Lamson had provided an explanation or whether there were other witnesses. Police would say only that there is an active investigation.

It was the second time in recent weeks police have investigated a driveway fatality in South Sarasota County. On Jan. 9, 20-month-old Abigail Depasse died after her mother moved the family car and did not notice that the toddler had followed her to the driveway from the porch of their Nokomis home.

Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Greg Bueno said such tragedies illustrate how important it is for both drivers and pedestrians to be extra cautious -- even in front of their homes.

"A car weighs 3,000 pounds," Bueno said. "You just have to be super careful whether you're in the car, in your driveway or wherever you are."

Lamson was well known in the greater Boston area for his work as CEO of the nonprofit Vinfen, which provides services to adults with mental and developmental disabilities.

Bruce Bird, who is now the CEO of Vinfen, said Lamson served on multiple medical boards in the Northeast and helped to curate a mental health curricula for a college in New Jersey.

"He was very well liked, very genial," Bird said. "A big guy with a big personality. Most people who met him felt like he was a warm, caring guy."

Highway Patrol Trooper Kenn Watson said the accident is under investigation.

"Let's be honest, they're senior citizens, she could have panicked," Watson said. "There are a lot of variables there."

Such accidents are not as uncommon as they might seem.

In 2007, 74,000 people were injured after being struck by a car or a car part while in a residential or private area, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That same year, 168 people died from similar incidences, accounting for 29 percent of all noncrash fatalities that year.

Bueno said that although the majority of pedestrian fatalities happen on roads when people are trying to cross the street, he said driveways and large parking lots can be just as hazardous.

He said in cases when a parked car backs over or runs over a pedestrian, the results are often horrendous. "It is tragic, because often times, it's a family member or a next-door neighbor or a friend who is killed," Bueno said.