Disturbing pedestrian fatality trend emerging in West Valley and beyond
Beginning last last Saturday with the death of Dean Greenwalt at the intersection of Don Pio Drive and Ventura Blvd, in what would certainly be classified as a homicide as opposed to an accident, a disturbing pattern is emerging with regards to fatal incidents involve pedestrians in West Valley Crosswalks.
As last night’s Daily News article points out:
Greenwalt’s death marks the first of three pedestrian tragedies involving vehicles this week in the west San Fernando Valley.
A 75-year-old man died at a local hospital Thursday after being struck by a car at 11:10 a.m. as he walked in a crosswalk at Variel Avenue and Sherman Way, said Detective Bill Bustos.
A 52-year-old La Habra man also died at a local hospital Thursday after he was struck by a 70-year-old man from Calabasas who lost consciousness behind the wheel. Authorities are investigating the medical reasons behind the crash and have not issued a citation.
The La Habra man was standing on the sidewalk at the corner of Dumez Road and Topanga Canyon Boulevard when he was struck.
But these haven’t been the only incidents in the the Valley this week. Two pedestrians were struck near Aura Ave and Roscoe Blvd. in Northridge on Friday. It’s hard not to really look closely at these incidents and see something of a societal problem. I think perhaps we all need to take a second and perhaps give counsel to some of the older people in our lives, and make sure they are exercising due caution in their lives out there on our dangerous Los Angeles roadways. Make sure they remain aware of their surroundings. We also need to put pressure on law enforcement agencies to break off pursuits when they become dangerous.
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Regarding age of pedestrians and drivers, don’t be fooled by numbers. Dean Greenwalt was one of the most vibrant humans you would ever want to know. Having rented his home with him in a portion of it for two years during the earthquake rebuild of my home, I know this man, and no one should paint him with an old man paint brush. Dean was a fixture of our Girard. Who should be discussed is the police who insist pursuits are necessary for “infractions of codes”.
@Donna Mansur
Donna, I could not agree with you more. While I am not up to snuff on my knowledge of LAPD police chases (because I refuse to watch them on TV) I know that fatalities and injuries can and do happen. I recall a case earlier in the decade where either a motorist or pedestrian was killed by an evader on White Oak in the Tarzana/Encino area some years ago.
This is more of a problem for us in LA because the police have the advantage of being able to call in their sizable airborne assets which, to me, encourages chases to go on for an exceedingly unsafe amount of time because it’s basically impossible for the evader to truly ‘lose’ the police.
In any case, once these scumbags are on the surface streets putting people like you and me in danger, they should break off the chases.