A 14-year-old Salt Lake City boy was struck by a vehicle last weekend on a crosswalk at the Bitner Frontage Road.
Deputies were dispatched at about 8:45 on Friday night, March 6th, to the intersection of Bitner Road and Glenwild Drive. A witness reported seeing two people trying to cross Bitner, and added they were hard to see in the dark.
A vehicle apparently didn’t slow down and struck the boy in the crosswalk. The youngster was taken to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake and was found to have a severe concussion and other minor injuries.
The driver stopped after the accident. He was identified as a 28-year-old man from Eagle Mountain. His vehicle was towed, with damage to the windshield and front fender. And the driver was cited for failing to yield at the crosswalk.
Sheriff’s Lt. Andrew Wright said there are no street lights at that intersection. A directional sign pointing to GlenWilde has a lantern-type light, but isn’t very bright.
He said the cross-walk does have flashing lights on either side that can be activated for a pedestrian. They are maintained by Public Works.
So far this season, there have been three cases in the Park City limits of pedestrians struck by vehicles.
This is the first in the Basin for this winter. Lt. Wright said drivers need to remember that Park City and Summit County have a lot of activity from people on foot.
“We have a lot of trail systems. Those trail systems do cross roadways. Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of sidewalks for pedestrians. And so people in the area need to understand that as you drive down the roads, you have to be—you can’t be distracted. You’ve got to stay off your phones. You’ve got to make sure you’re really paying attention to your driving, because you can bet that there’s going to be a pedestrian either on a bicycle or walking or running, or using roller-blades—whatever mode of transportation they choose to go. We have a very active community and you’re gonna see pedestrians on the roadways and crossing the roadways all times of the year.”
Sheriff’s Lt. Andrew Wright.
