About 9:16 p.m. on Sunday, April 24, 2016, a 1998 Toyota Corolla four-door sedan was traveling north on Kenilworth Avenue (State Route 201) in Riverdale Park, Prince George’s County, Maryland. As the 50-year-old female driver approached the intersection of Kenilworth Avenue and Tuckerman Street, the traffic signal for northbound vehicles was green. The driver observed a male pedestrian walking east in the middle of the intersection, trying to cross Kenilworth Avenue. The driver applied the brakes and attempted to steer left, away from the pedestrian, but the car struck him in the left northbound through lane of the intersection (figure 1). Because of the impact, the 55-year-old pedestrian rode up onto the vehicle’s hood and collided with the passenger side of the car’s windshield before rolling off the right side of the vehicle. After sliding along the pavement, the pedestrian came to rest 52 feet from the point of impact.
The driver stopped at the scene, then left the area to seek assistance, calling 911 at 9:21 p.m. After the driver left the scene, a Riverdale Park police officer, on routine patrol, encountered the pedestrian lying facedown on the right shoulder of the road. The officer requested medical assistance for the pedestrian. The pedestrian was transported to Prince George’s Hospital Center, where he died of his injuries.
The probable cause of the crash in Riverdale Park, Maryland, was the pedestrian’s decision to cross a multilane arterial roadway in the middle of the intersection. Contributing to his poor decision-making was impairment from alcohol. Also contributing to the crash was the intersection design, which failed to consider pedestrian traffic.
