As drivers, we’ve all learned the precautions to take against car accident injuries. We know that wearing our seat belts, driving defensively and keeping distractions to a minimum, whether they’re passengers or cellphones, can reduce the chance we’ll be hurt in a collision. But these protections only help us if we’re driving. As pedestrians, we face a completely different set of dangers.
Obeying traffic symbols and watching carefully for oncoming cars is about all we can do to ensure our own safety when traveling by foot. Sometimes, unfortunately, it isn’t enough. Two men were killed in eastern Pennsylvania early Saturday morning as they walked along a road. The men were walking along Route 11 in New Milford, Pennsylvania, about 2:21 a.m. when a car drove along and struck them both.
The men were both pronounced dead at the scene. The driver whose car hit them, a 40-year-old Kingsley man, was arrested on two counts of vehicular homicide while driving under the influence, two counts of vehicular homicide and obedience to traffic control devices. He’s currently being held at the Susquehanna County Correctional Facility.
Autopsies are being performed on the two victims. It’s unknown why they were walking along the road, but considering the time of night, it’s possible they were avoiding driving home drunk. If so, it was a wise move for them to avoid a crash. It’s a shame that they were involved in one anyway. Depending on the outcome of the driver’s criminal case, their families may decide to file a wrongful death suit against him to recover the men’s funeral and burial costs.
Source: The Times-Tribune, “Two pedestrians killed in New Milford crash,” Feb. 26, 2012