On Sunday, a 79-year-old woman in Australia died after rolling her Hyundai Elantra. 
 
 “She was coming to visit me and spend the week with me,” her sister said. 
 
 In Missouri in 2012, a single mother was killed when a schoolteacher lost control of her car. 
 
 “She had just improved her career and was really getting her act together as a single mom,” a friend said. 
 
 The cause of these fatal car accidents? The sneeze. 
 
 “Sneezing can be very violent, causing the sufferer to close their eyes temporarily, especially with a severe cold,” Steve Rounds, a British police official, told the Daily Mail last year. “Driving a car with such symptoms would certainly be irresponsible and could be held as an aggravating factor in any accident that led to a death or serious injury, laying the driver open to a charge of causing death by dangerous driving.” 
 
 While the National Safety Council estimated in 2010 that 1.6 million car accidents per year are caused by drivers using cellphones or texting, few such studies have investigated the sneeze’s effect on highway safety. 
 
 One undertaken by Halfords Autocentres, a British car repair company, found that “2.6 million drivers on Britain’s roads admitted to taking their eyes off the road due to a cold or flu,” according to the Daily Mail. 
 
 The result? According to Halfords,”2,500 accidents a week in winter,” 
 
 If this study seems dubious — accidents caused specifically by sneezes were not analyzed separately — consider this frighteningly detailed dissection of distracted driving from the Centers for Disease Control: 
 
 There are three main types of distraction: 
 
 Visual: taking your eyes off the road; 
 
 Manual: taking your hands off the wheel; and 
 
 Cognitive: taking your mind off of driving. 
 
 An ill-timed achoo seems to fall within all of these categories. Halfords estimated that those who sneeze while driving at 60 mph may travel 50 feet with their eyes closed — and the CDC said that nine people per day are killed by distracted driving in the United States. In fact, one died after a sneeze in Salisbury, Md., in 2011. 
 
 Other examples of non-fatal crashes allegedly caused by sneezes abound. A car that veered off the road in New Hartford, N.Y. A woman who rearended a Massachusetts State Police cruiser. A truck driver who smashed into 10 cars in San Leandro, Calif. 
 
 As the number of distractions tempting drivers grows — smart phones, GPS, Google Glass — it’s hard to remember that nature’s call can also prove deadly. 
 
 So pull over to sneeze, if possible. ||||| INDIANAPOLIS (May 16, 2014) – A sneeze backed up traffic on the northeast side of Indianapolis Friday. 
 
 According to the Indianapolis Fire Department, a semi truck crashed before 1 p.m. Friday after the driver–52-year-old William Hosier–said he took his eyes off the road when he sneezed and reached for a tissue. His truck veered into the interstate’s retaining wall, splitting the fuel tank open. Fuel caught fire as the truck careened out of control; the cab hit an abutment and also burst into flames with Hosier and his passenger, 58-year-old Cynthia Hosier–inside. 
 
 Jason Tibbetts and Katie Warrick–two on-duty EMTs–witnessed the crash, IFD said. They broke the driver’s side window, unlocked the door and pulled William Hosier to safety. They then helped Cynthia Hosier–described by IFD as the man’s ex-wife–out of the cab as well. She had been in the sleeping compartment, and was taken to IU Health Methodist Hospital in good condition. Both complained of pain, according to Indiana State Police. 
 
 The resulting fire sent plumes of smoke into the sky and forced emergency responders to shut down all lanes of I-465 southbound near East 56th Street and North Shadeland Avenue. IFD crews had the fire under control in about 15 minutes, and Indiana State Police began redirecting traffic, which came to a standstill before it began trickling through again. 
 
 About 200 gallons of diesel fuel and oil spilled from the truck’s tanks into interstate drains and Fall Creek below. Firefighters used absorbent booms and pillows to limit the spread. A spill recovery team later arrived, using dozens of 50-pound bags of kitty litter to contain the spill. 
 
 Hosier’s truck was carrying Nissan car parts for Carter Express out of Anderson, Ind. IFD said the company assumed liability for the spill recovery and cleanup costs. 
 
 Traffic in the area was still slow as of 4 p.m. 
 
 Semi crash with fire on 465 SB at 56th injures 1 and sends diesel fuel into Fall Creek. Crews work together to stop. pic.twitter.com/VjheFhZ1JR — IFD NEWS (@IFD_NEWS) May 16, 2014 
 
 https://twitter.com/IFD_NEWS/status/467368428861657088 ||||| WDAF A Missouri mother died in a car accident Wednesday after another driver had a sneezing fit and lost control of her car. 
 
 A Missouri mother died in a car accident police say was caused by another driver’s violent sneezing attack. 
 
 Laura McClendon, 30, wasn’t wearing a seatbelt when her car collided with Kathleen Brady’s minivan on a Smithville, Mo., highway Wednesday, The Kansas City Star reported. 
 
 Brady, a local schoolteacher, started “sneezing violently” just before she hit the single mother’s car head-on. 
 
 Missouri Highway Patrol cited Brady for careless and imprudent driving, as well as failing to have insurance. 
 
 McClendon’s 1-year-old son was also in the car during the accident. He remains in serious condition at Children’s Mercy Hospital. 
 
 WDAF 
 
 McClendon’s friends, meanwhile, said they were shocked by the news. 
 
 “We are pretty much in shock and just having a hard time wrapping our heads around the whole thing,” Cheryl Krecker told the newspaper, adding that McClendon has just started a new job this summer. 
 
 “She had just improved her career and was really getting her act together as a single mom.” 
 
 This is not the first time a bout of sneezing had led to a fatal accident. 
 
 Last year, a driver lost control of his vehicle and slammed it into a tree in Salisbury, Md., when he had a sneezing fit. His passenger died. 
 
 WDAF 
 
 Highway Patrol Sgt. Collin Stosberg said the tragic crash could have been avoided. 
 
 “Sometimes you can’t control whether or not you are going to sneeze,” Stosberg told a local Fox affiliate. “But you still have to be traveling at a speed slow enough where you don’t have a crash or lose control.” 
 
 croberts@nydailynews.com 
 
 WATCH: NO SEATBELT AND SNEEZING CAUSES FATAL ACCIDENT ||||| advertisement 
 
 A Homestead man was struck and killed by a passing driver after the driver reportedly sneezed and crashed into him, police said. 
 
 Victor Aguiar, 56, was pushing a disabled car on the side of Haverhill Road in Lake Worth early Saturday morning, when another car, driven by Shawn Gruber, 27, crashed into him, said a report from the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office. 
 
 Aguiar was pushing the disabled car north on Haverhill Road with Oscar Cristo Gomez, 28, while Michael Gomez Rodriguez, 16, helped steer it. The car did not have lights or reflective markers, according to the report. 
 
 Gruber told police he sneezed as he was driving, and when he opened his eyes, he saw the disabled car. He swerved to the left, but hit the disabled car from behind, pinning Aguiar and Gomez between the two cars, police said. 
 
 Aguiar was pronounced dead on the scene, while Gomez was transported to Delray Medical Center where he remains in critical condition, the report said. 
 
 More Local Stories: ||||| A sneeze led to a 79-year-old widow crashing her car on Waterfall Way near Armidale on Sunday, her sister claims. 
 
 A sneeze led to a 79-year-old widow crashing her car on Waterfall Way near Armidale on Sunday, her sister claims. 
 
 
 
 Edna Hickson, of Smithtown, was driving to her sister Betty Sheelah's Armidale home when she apparently sneezed about 10.45am, 18km east of Armidale. 
 
 
 
 Police reported she failed to negotiate a bend and left the road, rolling her Hyundai Elantra a number of times. 
 
 
 
 "She was coming to visit me and spend the week with me," Ms Sheelah said. 
 
 
 
 The family was preparing a huge party for Ms Hickson's 80th birthday in early October, "this accident is just such a shock", Ms Sheelah said. 
 
 "She was quite alert after the crash, apparently," Ms Sheelah said. 
 
 
 
 "When they arrived, she told the paramedics she had sneezed and that was what led to the accident." 
 
 Ms Sheelah claimed her sister was taken to Armidale Hospital where she died from internal injuries. 
 
 A report is being compiled into the tragic accident for the coroner.
– A 79-year-old woman died Sunday, and her sister says a sneeze was to blame. Australian police say Edna Hickson's Hyundai Elantra rolled a number of times as she rounded a bend, causing internal injuries that ultimately killed her. But sister Betty Sheelah says Hickson, who was driving to Sheelah's home in northern New South Wales for a week's stay, didn't die on the scene. She "was quite alert after the crash. When they arrived, she told the paramedics she had sneezed and that was what led to the accident." Hickson was taken to the hospital, where she later died, reports the Armidale Express. So how common are sneeze-related accidents? Anecdotally, they're certainly not unheard of: A semi-truck driver who said he sneezed and reached for a tissue in May caused a fiery crash and traffic back-up, but no deaths, in Indianapolis; in April 2013, a man pushing a disabled car along a Florida road was struck and killed by a driver who sneezed; and in November 2012, a single mother in Missouri was killed when her car was hit head-on by a driver who started "sneezing violently." The Washington Post points to a British car repair company's estimate that a sneeze that happens while one is driving 60mph can translate into the driver traveling 50 feet with his eyes closed. (At the root of another car crash: A man holding his breath.)