A pedestrian struck by a driver in a “significant impact” while crossing 23rd Ave suffered serious injuries Monday night.
Seattle Fire and Seattle Police responded to the scene along 23rd Ave just south of E Madison where the man was struck while crossing behind the nearby Safeway just after 5 PM.
The victim was struck in a “high impact” collision and was found unconscious and bleeding heavily by arriving responders. According to emergency radio updates, the man in his 40s suffered leg fractures and other injuries in the crash. Seattle Fire transported the man to Harborview.
We do not have an update on the patient’s condition.
The driver remained at the scene and was being interviewed by police. According to city records, the license plate of the vehicle indicated the car was a four-door Toyota sedan.
23rd Ave was closed in both directions during the response before the southbound lane was reopened around 5:30 PM. The full roadway was reopened to traffic shortly after Seattle Fire dispatched an additional crew to the scene to wash away remaining blood from the pavement.
Earlier this year, the city completed a six-year overhaul of 23rd Ave to make safety and transit improvements along the heavily traveled route between the Central District and 520.
UPDATE 11/28/2023: SPD says that as of Tuesday afternoon the investigation remained with them and had not been transferred to state authorities as it typically would in a fatality crash. We are still trying to get a status update from Harborview on the victim’s condition.
UPDATE 11/29/2023: SPD has released a brief on the incident. “It appears a pedestrian attempted to cross 23rd Avenue and was struck by a vehicle going northbound,” a portion of the report reads. “The driver and witness stopped to call for aid and the pedestrian was transported by Medic One with life-threatening injuries to Harborview Medical Center.”
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These drivers around here are insane. I am on high alert in crosswalks. I also drive sometimes and am always expecting someone to be crossing and drive cautiously but not everyone has the same regard for human life. Stay safe and look both ways 3 times
People cross at that block a lot. It’s only one block, but it’s a pretty long one. Cars tend to speed because if Olive is green then it’s a pretty long uninterrupted stretch. Also for some reason that stretch is very very dark.
There should be 1 or 2 sets of streetlights on that block, between Olive & Denny, it feels very dangerous.
I agree and people often cross the street directly out of the parking entrance on 23rd, so mid-block – its dark, people speed, pedestrians often jaywalk
It’s not possible for more than one party to be at fault.
not blaming pedestrians always have the right of way – just stating a fact – its a dark stretch and its obvs not safe
Man fuck, I walk on this road so much and it’s such a shitty experience. Kids do too with Garfield right down the street. We deserve better.
is there any update on whether the pedestrian survived? a dear friend of mine pulled up moments after this accident happened and sat with the driver until the police arrived… she said it looked dire.
Do you know specifically what happened? Pedestrian was walking across in sight and simply was not seen or pedestrian stepped out with out seeing car?
There are a bunch of huge unused metal lamp posts all along 23rd now. I’m not sure if they are new and haven’t had lights installed or what. But the other day a pedestrian perked out from behind one a I was driving on that stretch. I couldn’t even see her until she stepped out from behind it.
Utility poles are a serious traffic safety issue all over Seattle. I’m really surprised this is never brought up in these discussions, along with parking allowed too close to intersections.
There’s such limited parking enforcement these days, people park in some clearly marked spots all over the CD including blocking bus stops, curb cuts and crosswalks and I don’t think I’ve seen anyone get a ticket since 2019. Let alone all the dangerous driving behavior, and the rapid increase in cars driving without licenses/darkened licenses, etc. etc.
The City isn’t going to do enforcement (and many people don’t want it anyways for racial equity concerns), the least they can do is some actual physical infrastructure, no more of this paint and plastic bollard bs.
Those are trolley wire poles, installed during the repaving project back in 2017 because Metro intended to electrify Route 48 the following year. That project has been delayed over and over; current estimate is 2026.
These are likely poles waiting for trolley wire as part of the upcoming electrification of the route 48.