Pedestrian killed Saturday shows peril of crossing Corpus Christi streets

A crash that happened near a busy intersection in the 200 block of Baldwin Boulevard late Saturday night took the life of a 67-year-old man who was walking across the street.

Corpus Christi Police Department senior officer Antonio Contreras said police responded to a call at about 6:29 p.m. May 18 of a major vehicle crash involving a pedestrian. They arrived at the scene to find a man lying in the roadway. Bystanders were already administering first aid when medics arrived and transported the man to a local hospital. He later died from his injuries, Contreras said.

Follow-up traffic investigators were called out to assist, the officer added, determining that the man was heading north across Baldwin Boulevard on foot when a vehicle traveling westbound struck him. The driver of the vehicle stayed on the scene and spoke with police.

Contreras said the man did not cross at a crosswalk or along the sidewalk where one was provided.

Neither of the individuals’ identities has been released at this time.

A dangerous city for pedestrians and people on bikes

Traffic crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists are on the rise in Corpus Christi. According to data from the Texas Department of Transportation’s Crash Records and Information System, there were 107 traffic crashes involving pedestrians in 2022, resulting in eight deaths and 19 serious injuries. Fifty-four crashes involving cyclists resulted in one death and six serious injuries that year.

The city has low walk and bike scores, scoring 57% on a scale of 100, according to Walk Score, measured by how many errands can be accomplished on foot. People for Bikes gave Corpus Christi a score of 8 out of 100, with a rank of 1,323 in the U.S., in terms of providing a place where people can comfortably walk or bike without worrying about being hit by a car.

A high number of car crashes resulting in deaths and serious injuries happen at the city’s most dangerous intersections. Of 40,600 crashes that happened between 2017 and 2021 inside the Corpus Christi Metropolitan Statistical Area, 19,000, or 47%, were at intersections, according to the Corpus Christi Metropolitan Planning Organization’s annual crash data.

In 2023, there were 13 fatal crashes on Corpus Christi roads that happened at intersections, including one that killed a pedestrian at the juncture of Ayers and East streets, when a motorist failed to yield the right of way, and another in which a bicyclist was killed at Farm to Market Road 2444 and Lipes Boulevard where a stop-and-go signal was ignored. On April 19, a man was seriously injured at the intersection of Ayers Street and Gollihar Road while riding a bike.

CRIS data shows that among the city’s most dangerous intersections, heavy traffic volume, speeding, distracted driving and failure to yield contribute to a higher risk of accidents in areas of high traffic near major highways with multiple lanes merging at once. Data pinpointing accidents on a CRIS cluster map charted 29 car accidents at State Highway 358 and Ayers Road in 2023.

Baldwin Boulevard, which intersects the road near where the pedestrian was hit on May 18, is among Corpus Christi’s most dangerous roads, with 23 crashes happening there in 2024, according to additional TxDOT data.

Driver and pedestrian alertness crucial at intersections

Many accidents are simply due to people not following the rules of the road, obeying pedestrian and stop-and-go signals that let them know when it’s ok to proceed, members of law enforcement stress.

“Pedestrians need to walk across the road when it’s their turn,” officer Contreras said. “At major intersections, they need to have their head on a swivel looking both ways. If it’s their turn to go, be mindful that motorists may not see them.”

Pedestrians should go the extra step in ensuring they go to the crosswalk at the intersection and wait for their turn to cross. They should also assume that vehicles do not see them and double and triple-check that it’s clear to walk, he said.

Texas law states that pedestrians have the right of way (ROW) in marked crosswalks, unmarked crosswalks at intersections and when following pedestrian control signals.

This means that while pedestrians have the ROW at intersections without pedestrian signals, they must yield the ROW to a vehicle on a roadway if crossing the road at a place other than a marked crosswalk or intersection that does not have traffic control signals.

TxDOT, which leads a campaign designed to urge all Texans to learn and follow the laws for safe driving, walking and biking through “Be Safe. Drive Smart,” is placing pedestrian warning signs along freeways in cities around the state, including along the shoulder of South Padre Island Drive in the Crosstown Expressway in Corpus Christi, to warn people of the dangers of walking in crash-prone areas.

Rickey Dailey, TxDOT public information officer, said the rules of basic safety apply for both drivers and pedestrians.

“Pedestrians should yield to vehicles, but pedestrians should also not be certain that traffic is going to stop for them,” he said. “They may not see you, or they may be in a hurry.”

He encouraged pedestrians and cyclists to make eye contact with drivers before crossing streets so that both parties are signaling that they see each other.

Drivers can ensure pedestrian safety by stopping, slowing down, reducing speed when approaching crosswalks or stopping and yielding when turning.

“A pedestrian could enter into your path, could step out between parked cars, or they may come off a bus at a bus stop, exit and go around the front of the bus,” he said. “For pedestrians to be safe, they need to be alert and watch what cars are doing.”

He emphasized that if a person is jaywalking, the driver of the vehicle in an accident may not be liable. Pedestrians should always walk on sidewalks, or if there is no sidewalk, the left side of the road facing traffic.

More: Man dies after motorcycle crash on SPID early Friday morning

More: Bicyclist seriously injured after being struck by vehicle near Ayers Street

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Pedestrian killed Saturday shows peril of Corpus Christi streets