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Pedestrian deaths frequent on University Drive

There have been several pedestrians hit and killed along University Drive in Huntsville over the past few years. Police say there are several factors that go in...

There have been several pedestrians hit and killed along University Drive in Huntsville over the past few years. Police say there are several factors that go into what causes these accidents, but often times, pedestrians aren’t using crosswalks when accidents happen.

Last Wednesday night, one person was critically injured trying to cross University Drive. According to Lt. Michael Johnson with the Huntsville Police Department, the person was only a few feet away from a crosswalk when they were hit.

Police say they don’t often fine people for jaywalking because it won’t fix the problem.

“We could go out here and write a bunch of jaywalking tickets. We could write tickets or make arrests for disorderly conduct, but is that really going to solve the problem, you know. It’s more of a people problem. It’s a decision problem, not using good judgement,” said Johnson.

If a pedestrian is hit and killed and it’s determined not the driver’s fault, the driver can walk away with no charges, but police say drivers still have to do their part to keep these accidents from happening.

“If the pedestrian is at fault and has walked out and crossed the road, well, you now can’t do the defensive reaction of breaking in time if you’re on your phone,” said Johnson.

Police say if you do have to cross a busy street to always use a crosswalk.

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