Pedestrian Dies in Portsmouth After being hit on Airline Boulevard

The cities of Hampton Roads are particularly unfriendly toward pedestrians. Often they lack sidewalks, crosswalks are few and far between and you may be taking your life into your own hands if you cross the road.

I was saddened to read about an accident on October 13, 2014, in which a pedestrian lost his life in Portsmouth. He was reported to have been hit by a vehicle while he was walking in the 2800 block of Airline Boulevard near to the intersection of Chowan Drive, according to Detective Misty Holley with Portsmouth Police Department. The pedestrian died in hospital after the accident. My thoughts are with his family.

Around 9:15 p.m., a white vehicle hit the man who was walking in the 2800 block of Airline Boulevard, near the intersection of Chowan Drive, according to Portsmouth police

The vehicle stayed at the scene, and the pedestrian was transported to nearby Maryview Hospital with serious injuries, Holley said. He later died of his injuries. Portsmouth Police Department’s Strategic Traffic Unit was dispatched to the scene to investigate.

Inner city Portsmouth can be an uncompromising environment for pedestrians. Earlier this year a 60-year-old man was hit and killed by a police cruiser near the intersection of Portsmouth Boulevard and Woodstock Street.

In 2012, pedestrian was killed in Portsmouth, after he was hit by a car at the intersection of intersection of Airline Boulevard and Rodman Avenue.

The Virginian-Pilot reported the man was hit at about 8:30 P.M. on September 10, 2012. Portsmouth police said the man was taken to a local hospital, where he later died of his injuries.

Motorists have a duty to look out for pedestrians. While walkers have more well established rights on crosswalks where motor vehicles must yield to pedestrians, the absence of a criminal charge against a driver, does not mean the family of a pedestrian, is denied the right to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

I have seen cases in which drunken drivers and speeding drivers have hit pedestrians. See our Virginia injury lawyers’ information on accidents involving pedestrians. Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers is the author of Top Twenty Tips for Car, Truck or Motorcycle Accidents. Remember, if the other party has minimum or no coverage, then your own car insurance may help with your recovery after an accident with injuries. Call Cooper Hurley at 757.455.0077.