EVERETT – A man was hit by a small pickup truck Thursday in the same area where police have been targeting speeding and inattentive drivers.
Niki Desautels / The Herald
seriously injured by a pickup on Thursday.
The man’s condition was not released Thursday by officials at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he was taken by helicopter with “very serious” injuries.
Neighbors say the accident is another example of why the city should replace two large, lighted crosswalk signs with a stoplight in the 200 block of W. Casino Road, across from the Fred Meyer store.
“It’s not safe. There have been so many close calls because so many people are not paying attention or speeding,” said Sheridan Perkins, who lives in the area. “On the other side, I’ve seen people jump out into the street.”
Everett detectives are investigating Thursday’s accident.
Bystanders said the man was crossing the street about 2:40 p.m. when a Ford Ranger in the inside lane struck him, police said. It appeared that the man was crossing legally in the crosswalk when he was hit, Sgt. Rod Sniffen said.
Witness Tom Sheridan was nearby in his car and saw the accident happen. He heard a “heart-sickening thump” as he was stopped for traffic, he said, then saw a man thrown 10 feet through the air.
“It didn’t feel like it was real. People were screaming. I didn’t see him breathing,” the south Everett business owner said. “I certainly hope he is going to be all right.”
Police said the man didn’t have any identification on him and they were trying to determine his name Thursday evening. The man’s hat, sunglasses and other personal effects were scattered across the road.
The driver was not hurt. The impact of the crash caved in the passenger side of her windshield.
Police are investigating whether the driver was speeding, Lt. Ted Olafson said.
The driver, an Everett woman, 24, was ushered away in handcuffs and detained for a time, but was not booked into the Snohomish County Jail on Thursday, he said.
Laterria Johnson was walking along W. Casino Road and saw the man sprawled in the middle of the road.
“They need to do something about that crosswalk. It’s dangerous,” said Johnson, who lives nearby.
Everett police have set up sting operations at that crosswalk, warning and ticketing drivers who didn’t stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk.
| Anyone with information about the accident that occurred around 2:40 p.m. Thursday in the 200 block of W. Casino Road is asked to call the Everett Police Department’s tip line at 425-257-8450. |
Fatalities along the road prompted the city to install the overhead crosswalk signs currently in place, Olafson said.
“Anytime you have pedestrians mixed with the extraordinary volume of traffic like on Casino Road, it is inherently dangerous,” Olafson said.
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
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