Two pedestrians, one female and one male, were struck by a motorist in the North Highlands neighborhood of Sacramento on the evening of Jan. 9. A spokesperson with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) reported that the incident happened shortly before 9:30 p.m. near the intersection of Date Avenue and Madison Avenue.
Witnesses reported seeing the two pedestrians walking southbound toward the intersection in the moments before the crash. At that same time, two vehicles, a Hyundai Elantra and Toyota Prius were also fast approaching it.
As the pedestrians arrived at the intersection, they were both struck by the Hyundai. The impact of the crash caused the female to be catapulted into the far lane. The male was thrown in the direction of the center one. It’s there that the Toyota then struck him.
By the time paramedics arrived at the crash scene, the 57-year-old male pedestrian had expired. His 31-year-old female companion was transported to a trauma hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries. She was listed as being in critical condition.
Investigators with the North Sacramento Area office of the CHP haven’t yet made a determination as to whether the pedestrians were crossing the roadway in the designated crosswalk at the time that the crash occurred.
CHP officers had the drivers of the two vehicles perform field sobriety tests at the scene. A spokesperson with the department notes that the 28-year-old female driver of the Hyundai and the 40-year-old male operator of the Toyota both passed those tests. Police also determined that neither of the motorists had been texting at the time of the crash.
When pedestrians are struck at intersections, it’s often not the result of motorist negligence. Instead, poorly designed intersections and other factors can be to blame for incidents like these as well. A personal injury attorney who is skilled a representing injured pedestrians can get to the bottom of who’s responsible for your incident and hold the careless driver or public entity accountable.
