Tag Archive for 'collision'

City says no light signal for ped collision hotspot

Capitol Hill Seattle reports on a dangerous intersection for pedestrians. An elderly man was recently hit at Pine & Boylston, as one of a few pedestrians who have been hit at that intersection over the past couple years.

SDOT studied the intersection but has indicated that a traffic signal isn’t the best solution. Spokesperson Rick Sherdian says, “Although this location did not meet the criteria for a signal, SDOT will study the types and causes of the collisions that have occurred at this location and determine what other traffic devices or methods could improve safety here.”

Sheridan explains the process that SDOT will go through in evaluating this intersection.

SDOT’s evaluation will review sight lines, markings, signs, pavement condition, time-of-day patterns, day-of-week patterns, bus zone placement, traffic volumes, distance to traffic signals and field observations. We will also study collision reports for any patterns of contributing pedestrian or motorist behavior. Given our significant workload, SDOT aims to complete this by year’s end.

That’s a long time to wait for a solution to be identified, but hopefully SDOT can address this problem before someone else is injured.

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Car strikes pedestrians at Pike Place Market

From the Times

Three pedestrians were injured when a car went out of control near the Pike Place Market late Thursday morning.

Seattle police said the driver was arrested and was being evaluated Thursday for impairment. He was booked into King County Jail and is being held without bail on suspicion of vehicular assault, which is a felony.

At about 11:30 a.m., a 1997 Subaru wagon was headed west down Stewart Street past First Avenue toward the Market, according to Seattle police Sgt. Bill Robertson and the department’s online blog.

All three pedestrians were taken to Harborview Medical Center, where hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg-Hanson said Thursday evening the women were in satisfactory condition and the man was in serious condition.

None of them have life-threatening injuries, she said.

While a driver could have been out of control anywhere, the fact that it happened in one of the busiest pedestrian areas of the city means that more people were hit than would have been hit elsewhere. Would closing Pike Place Market to vehicles be worthwhile if it prevents accidents like these from occurring there?

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Driver who struck five people in SoDo was 4x over legal limit

From the Seattle Times:

A West Seattle woman had a blood-alcohol level nearly four times the legal limit when she drove her pickup into five pedestrians Thursday night outside Seattle’s Showbox SoDo, police said.

Juanita Wright, 43, also known as Juanita Carpenter and Juanita Mars, was arrested after police say she struck a group of people in the 1700 block of First Avenue South before 11 p.m. The victims had just left the nightclub.

Four of the victims were hospitalized after the crash. On Monday, two remained in serious condition in the intensive-care unit at Harborview Medical Center, and a third was listed in satisfactory condition, said Susan Gregg-Hanson, Harborview spokeswoman.

One of the injured pedestrians has been released from the hospital, Gregg-Hanson said.

Wright told police that the pedestrians crossed in front of her pickup, and she agreed to take a field sobriety test, police booking paperwork said. Wright’s blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.30 percent, police said, well above the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

Wright consulted with a lawyer and was briefly hospitalized, police said. According to the police booking report, Wright is an unemployed teacher.

Wright is being held in King County Jail for investigation of vehicular assault in lieu of $250,000 bail.

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