According to a witness, a car that came out of nowhere struck and killed a 49-year-old Wallingford man who was crossing a road in New Haven on June 24. The motorist fled from the scene of the accident.
The pedestrian was struck on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard near Orange Avenue around 10:00 p.m. The man and another pedestrian believed that it was safe to cross the street, because the car was apparently far away. However, the victim was struck suddenly after one of the pedestrians heard the drive of the car rev its engine.
A witness who was four feet behind the victim said that the driver continued south on the boulevard and did not stop, pause, tap the brake lights or slow down after the crash until it came to a red light. The area was closed until 3:30 a.m. the following morning.
According to the police’s preliminary investigation, the vehicle was a small Honda, which likely has damage on its front end. They had no information as to whether the driver was male or female and had no success in locating the suspect. Without the vehicle, according to a police spokesperson, these normally long investigations become more even more difficult. Police are still determining whether excessive speed was a factor in this accident.
This fatal accident is one example of the peril that a pedestrian faces in Connecticut. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration reported that the state suffered 36 fatalities in pedestrian accidents in 2012. This constituted 15 percent of all fatal accidents in Connecticut that year.
Victims of a pedestrian accident and their families should seek guidance to determine liability and whether a lawsuit is justified against a motorist for any personal injury or death.
Source: NBC Connecticut, “Friend of pedestrian killed in hit-and-run speaks out,” June 25, 2014
