65 Year-Old Salt Lake City Man Killed In Orem Auto-Ped Accident
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City resident Gordon Alma Brown was killed in a Utah auto-pedestrian accident on December 27, 2008. The 65-year-old man was attempting to cross a busy street Saturday night and was hit by an oncoming vehicle. The accident happened 1650 S. and State Street. According to police, the man was not using a crosswalk. However, Utah law gives the right-of-way to pedestrians and many areas are considered intersections, even if they do not have the traditional markings.
In Utah, pedestrian fatalities accounted for 31 traffic-related deaths in 2007. Nationwide, a pedestrian is injured in a traffic accident every 8 minutes. Furthermore, every 111 minutes a pedestrian is killed in an accident. On average, there are over 5,000 pedestrian fatalities each year.
Utah Pedestrian accidents are most common in urban areas. Downtown Salt Lake City, Sugarhouse, and Provo/Orem are especially risky cities in Utah as they each have a high level of automobile and pedestrian traffic. If you are behind the wheel, keep a close eye out for pedestrians and remember that they have the right-of-way.
