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The Los Angeles Police Department released surveillance video of a pedestrian who was struck by three vehicles and killed while crossing San Fernando Road south of Montague Street in Pacoima. The fatal incident occurred Friday, Jan. 12.
The video shows a man wrapped in blankets struck by a fast-moving truck when crossing the street. Subsequent cars pass the man laid out in the street. The man is seen attempting to get up but is hit again by another vehicle and then by a third vehicle. One car appears to slow down after hitting the man but then drives away.
The LAPD release of the video is anticipated to possibly lead to more information. To view the video go to: www.lapdonline.org.
According to the LAPD, the three vehicles – a light-colored pickup truck traveling northbound in the southbound lane, the subsequent light-colored full-size SUV traveling southbound and a dark-colored mid-size SUV traveling northbound – failed to stop, remain at the scene or deliver aid, as the law requires.
LA Fire Department paramedics pronounced the victim dead at the scene. He was described as a Latino in his late 20s or early 30s.
Reward Offered
The city is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the apprehension or arrest of the hit-and-run drivers.
To report information about the incident, call LAPD Valley Traffic Division at (818) 644-8022. To provide an anonymous tip, call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.
Streets Aren’t Pedestrian-Friendly
The infrastructure of the street where the Pacoima accident happened – with a bus stop in the middle of a half-mile block, far from any safe crossing point – is not set up for pedestrian safety, said Damian Kevitt, executive director of the nonprofit safety group Streets Are For Everyone (SAFE).
“It sets that road up to be a deadly road,” said Kevitt, adding that this location is a “snapshot” of our roads in general.
“Speed is the primary factor in traffic collisions and serious injuries and fatalities,” said Kevitt.
According to a 2022 SAFE report, speeding accounts for 34.8% of collisions in LA that result in injury or fatalities, making it the deadliest problem.
“That person who was hit and killed was hit and killed on a high-speed road. San Fernando Road is a fast straight road,” said Kevitt.
The Los Angeles Department of Transportation’s (LADOT) Vision Zero program was implemented in 2015 to try and eliminate traffic deaths on city streets by 2025.
According to a LADOT 2018 Vision Zero progress report, people walking are involved in only 8% of all traffic collisions but account for 44% of all people killed in collisions. Additionally, more than one in five killed or seriously injured (KSI) collisions involving pedestrians are hit-and-runs.
Despite efforts from LADOT to create safer streets through infrastructure improvements and informational projects such as designated safe routes, pedestrian deaths are still on the rise.
According to a report from SAFE, pedestrian fatalities rose 20% from 2021 to 2022. Pedestrian deaths made up the most traffic collision fatalities of 2022, with 159 deaths – comprising more than half of the 312 total collision fatalities that year.
The San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol analyzed traffic collision data from the LAPD and found that there were 179 pedestrian collision fatalities in 2023, a 13% increase from the previous year.
“Words on a piece of paper don’t save lives. Vision Zero is words on a piece of paper,” said Kevitt. “They’re not bad words. They’re correctly intentioned words. But unless you actually put the monetary investment in, unless you actually do Vision Zero, you won’t get the results.”
Kevitt explained that rebuilding infrastructure is costly, enforcing and regulating speeding is time-consuming and implementing projects and programs takes personnel.
Although Kevitt said funding is the biggest factor in implementing infrastructure changes, he explained that because LADOT is understaffed they were unable to utilize some of their funds for projects last year.
“A lot of the funding was left on the table last year because they didn’t have the personnel to implement it,” said Kevitt.
Looming underneath the rise in pedestrian traffic collision fatalities is a larger question about public transportation infrastructure in LA.
“We are a car-centric community,” said Kevitt. “We don’t have a very good public transit system that people are willing to use.”
According to an American Public Transportation analysis, public transit is 10 times safer than traveling by car, and cities with a higher public transit rate can cut their road traffic death rate in half.
“People are dependent upon cars to get anywhere [in LA]. Until that dependency is made not so mandatory, then we’re a bit starved in terms of our ability to handle traffic violence,” said Kevitt.
Very sad news!