6 pedestrians hit, killed in Ada County in 2018. Would lower speeds, lights save lives?

It’s been another terrible year for pedestrian deaths in Ada County.

With a month and half left in 2018, the county has already had six pedestrian deaths. That ties the highest number of annual deaths in the past two decades, according to data from the Idaho Transportation Department. Canyon County has had one.

Last year, there were five pedestrian deaths in Ada County — and the number of people suffering incapacitating injuries doubled over the previous year from 20 to 43. That’s an injury that prevents a person from walking, driving and doing other normal activities.

City and county prosecutors make charging decisions after reviewing police investigations and toxicology results — and that often takes months. Prosecutors have so far declined to charge drivers in three of the six cases, and the other three are still being processed.

Here’s what a review of ITD crash reports, police information and crash scenes showed:

• Three of the fatal crashes were in Boise, the others were in Garden City, Eagle and Meridian.
• Three occurred during the day, three at night. Poor lighting was a factor in the night crashes.
• Three of the pedestrians are believed to have been jaywalking when hit, one was standing next to a broken down car in the dark, one was laying in the road while doing mechanical work and one was in a crosswalk.
• One driver tested positive for alcohol but was well below the legal limit for driving. Two pedestrians tested positive for illicit drugs. That information is not yet available on the two most recent crashes.
• Four of the pedestrians killed were men, two were women. They ranged in age from 20 to 83.
• Four of the drivers were women, two were men. They ranged in age from 20 to 76.

“The one common denominator through most of them would be attention or lack of attention — whether that would be on the pedestrian’s part or driver’s part,” said Boise Police Detective Chad Wigington, who is part of the department’s crash reconstruction team.

Takeaways from the tragedies

Other takeaways from these six fatal crashes: Motorists need to drive with caution, keeping in mind that people do cross streets outside of crosswalks and may be in the road due to a breakdown or for other reasons. Pedestrians need to walk defensively — not jaywalking or presuming that drivers see them in the street, even in broad daylight. Alcohol and drugs impair attention of both drivers and pedestrians, with tragic consequences, Wigington said.

Wigington said police send reports on crashes involving fatalities to the Ada County Highway District and Idaho Transportation Department, so that those agencies can determine if a remedy, such as additional lighting, is needed to improve public safety. He said he’d like to see better lighting near Cole Road and Hummel Street, where an 83-year-old woman was struck and killed this summer.

Car lights are designed to throw light to the right side of the road, so a person crossing a street on the driver’s left would be harder to see, said Cynthia Gibson with the Idaho Walk Bike Alliance.

“Oftentimes the pedestrian is blamed for wearing dark clothes,” Gibson said. “I’m curious what color your winter coat is? Mine is navy, which so many are. Most people don’t have bright or reflective clothing they put on if they will be gone from home after dark. Lowering speed limits because our vision is impaired in the dark makes sense.”

Don Kostelec, a Boise traffic safety expert who has studied 20 years of crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists in Idaho, agrees that speed may be the key to reducing pedestrian deaths.

Here is a recap and status update on all six Ada County pedestrian fatality cases:

• Abdulaziz Madallah Ayedh Alenezi
  
  

The 20-year-old man was struck by multiple cars and died Jan. 10 on a west Boise street.

Alenezi’s car was stopped without lights due to mechanical problems in the eastbound lane of Fairview Avenue near Shamrock Avenue, according to the Idaho Transportation Department crash report. He was standing next to his silver Camaro when he was struck at about 11:15 p.m. by a blue PT Cruiser traveling east on Fairview.

It was dark and cloudy, but street lights were on and conditions were dry, the report says. The posted speed limit is 40 mph.

The impact of the collision threw Alenezi into the westbound lanes. Two other vehicles struck him, and the drivers of those cars did not stop.

Alenezi was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police released descriptions of the two vehicles that didn’t stop: One was a blue or purple early 2000s Pontiac Grand Am or Grand Prix with front damage that is missing a front fog light, and the other was a red Chevrolet Silverado truck.

The 26-year-old Boise driver of the first vehicle who struck Alenezi did stop. He had alcohol in his system but his blood-alcohol content was .028, below the legal driving limit of .08 BAC, the ITD crash report showed. Ada County prosecutors declined to pursue felony charges and forwarded it to Boise city prosecutors, who also declined charges.

Police were never able to identify the two drivers who left the scene, Boise Police spokeswoman Haley Williams told the Statesman. If caught, they could face charges either for hit and run or leaving the scene of an accident. Anyone with information is encourage to call police through non-emergency dispatch, 208-377-6790, or Crimestoppers, 208-343-2677.

Alenezi tested negative for alcohol and drugs, an Ada County Coroner official told the Statesman.

• Gregory L. Barnes
  
  

The 60-year-old Boise man was struck by a car while walking across Chinden Boulevard in Garden City on July 13.

Barnes was hit by a white Ford F150 truck at about 5:11 p.m., just east of Coffey Street, according to the ITD crash report. It occurred during daylight, and conditions were dry and clear. The posted speed limit in that section of Chinden is 35 mph.

Barnes was walking from south to north on Chinden and was hit by a car going east on Chinden. Mark Madden, watch commander for Garden City Police, told the Statesman that night that it appeared Barnes was in the inside lane, or left lane, of eastbound Chinden when he was hit. He was not in a marked or unmarked crosswalk, Madden said.

Life-saving measures were initiated at the scene, and Barnes was taken to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, police said. He was later pronounced dead.

The ITD crash report shows that Barnes tested positive for heroin. An Ada County Coroner official said toxicology tests were positive for methamphetamine/amphetamine, morphine and 6-monoacetelymorphine (“6-mam”); 6-mam is a unique metabolite of heroin, and its presence is indicative of heroin use, she said.

The 76-year-old Boise driver tested negative for alcohol, the ITD crash report shows. Ada County prosecutors declined to file charges against her.

• Nickolas G. Cereceres
  
  

The 23-year-old Boise man was run over and killed on West Cardon Street in Eagle on the morning of Aug. 6.

Cereceres, a landscape worker, was laying in the eastbound lane of Cardon when he was hit. He was working on the underside of a raised lawn mower that was sitting behind a landscape vehicle “parked in the middle of the road,” the Idaho Transportation Department crash report says.

At about 8:33 a.m., Cereceres was run over by a white Toyota RAV4 going east on Cardon. He died at the scene, Ada County Sheriff’s officials said.

Conditions that day were light, clear and dry, the crash report says. The posted speed limit in that area is 25 mph.

The 48-year-old Boise woman who ran over the landscaper tested negative for alcohol, the ITD crash report shows. Cereceres tested positive for marijuana.

The Ada County Sheriff’s Office has forwarded the case to the Boise Prosecutor’s Office, with the recommendation against charges. Mike Journee, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, said the case’s final disposition is pending.

• Glenys Jenson
  
  

The 83-year-old was struck as she walked across Cole Road on the Boise Bench late Aug. 24.

Jenson died at a local hospital, Boise police said.

She was walking toward the Jacksons Food Store when she was struck by a gray Honda Accord that was traveling in the southbound lane, an officer at the scene told the Statesman. The crash happened around 10 p.m., and Jenson died of blunt force trauma to the head at 1:24 a.m. Saturday, according to a report from the Ada County Coroner’s Office.

Jenson was crossing at the intersection of Hummel Street. Investigators believe she walked diagonally across the street toward the store, Wigington told the Statesman. She had made it across two lanes — but was struck in the third, or southbound lane, the ITD crash report says.

Wigington said the driver saw Jenson at the last second and swerved to avoid her. She was hit by the driver’s side front fender and side mirror.

Conditions were clear and dry, the crash report shows. But visibility was poor, according to first responders.

“The intersection was dark and had very little ambient light from the overhead street light on the opposite coroner Ms. Jenson was crossing,” the ITD crash report shows. “Responding officers noted that the intersection was dark and they had a difficult time seeing Ms. Jenson and the people rendering aide to her in the middle of the road.”

The posted speed limit in that section of Cole Road is 35 mph, and investigators determined the car that hit was traveling at about that speed.

The 20-year-old woman who struck Jenson was given a field sobriety test at the scene, the crash report shows. The day after the crash, police said they did not believe alcohol or drugs were a factor.

After their investigation, police decided charges were not warranted, Boise Police spokeswoman Haley Williams said.

• Sam Willie Jr.
  
  

The 58-year-old man died at a local hospital after being struck by a car in a Boise intersection on the night of Oct. 24. Police were called to the scene just before 9 p.m.

He was hit at the intersection of South Vista Avenue and West Targee Street, north of the Dutch Bros Coffee on Vista. The intersection has a traffic signal and street lights.

Wigington said Willie was walking west to east across Vista about 25 feet north of the crosswalk. He was struck on the curb-side lane of northbound Vista Avenue. The light was green according to another driver also traveling north on Vista, in the lane next to the one where Willie was struck, Wigington said.

Boise police say the investigation is ongoing. The ITD crash report is not yet available.

• Sandy Jaqueline Hernandez-Nuno
  
  

The 26-year-old woman died at a local hospital after she was struck by a concrete truck in a Meridian crosswalk on Oct. 17.

Sandy Jaqueline Hernandez-Nuno, was hit as she crossed Ustick Road at the corner with Eagle Road, Meridian police said. It was reported at 5:25 p.m.

Police said the Meridian woman was walking south across Ustick in the crosswalk, and the driver of a concrete truck was turning east onto Ustick from Eagle Road. The woman was struck by the right front tire of the truck, police said.

Police said they do not believe alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crash. The 46-year-old male driver has not been cited.

Meridian police say the investigation is ongoing. The ITD crash report is not yet available.

Katy Moeller: 208-377-6413