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tomwald

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From: 78722

Registered: 2008-05-27

Posts: 290

jogger killed by car

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/ … n_was.html

Woman struck near downtown was jogging, police say

By Suzannah Gonzales | Friday, September 25, 2009, 08:07 PM

The woman who was hit this evening near downtown was jogging, Austin police said.

Witnesses told police that she was jogging on a sidewalk in the 200 block of W. 15th St., between Colorado and Lavaca streets, on the eastbound sidewalk when an SUV came out of a private driveway and struck her, according to Austin police Cpl. Paul Kaderli.

Austin police were dispatched to the scene at 5:36 p.m., Kaderli said. Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services took the woman to University Medical Center Brackenridge, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

The woman was not carrying identification, Kaderli said, and police are trying to determine her identity. Kaderli said he did not know the woman's age.

No charges have been filed at this time, Kaderli said. He said the incident is still under investigation.

The incident was 45th traffic fatality in Austin this year, Kaderli said.

I'm posting this because it's remarkable.  I read the article and was shocked to discover the line, "... where she was pronounced dead on arrival."  I wasn't expecting a death to be the result.  Motorists fail to yield to sidewalk users as a matter of habit.  I would also think that joggers are some of the people most familiar with dodging errant cars, so that aspect is surprising, too.  Most people probably don't even know that a vehicle is legally required to come to a complete stop when exiting a driveway, so most pedestrians probably don't expect the courtesy.