DUVAL COUNTY, Fla. – A 39-year-old pedestrian is dead after a crash on State Road 21, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Around 10:05 p.m. Friday, a 27-year-old woman driving an SUV was headed south on Blanding Boulevard when a man attempted to cross the street, north of Hicks Road.
The man walked into the path of the SUV and was struck, troopers said. He died at HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital.
A witness told News4JAX that the pedestrian was not using a crosswalk at the intersection of Hicks and Blanding but crossed at a median.
“He went from the median and he had to cross the turning lane, which had no vehicles in it, and from there when he stepped into the first travel lane, it was instant,” Patrick Walker said.
Walker told News4JAX the SUV driver was going the speed limit and would not have had time to stop.
A man who works at a smoke shop down the road also heard the impact.
“I heard an impact like it was a car hitting a car and then I looked over there -- you can see the reflection of the street, especially at night, and all I saw was the firetruck and the cops,” said Kyle Macnabb.
The driver, who was wearing a seat belt, was not injured, troopers said.
Jacksonville is sixth in the nation for pedestrian deaths, according to a report from Smart Growth America.
This isn’t the only fatal pedestrian crash that has happened recently on Blanding Boulevard.
According to FHP, in August, a pedestrian was fatally struck by a car off Blanding Boulevard at Parkwood Drive.
Troopers said the car had a green traffic light when the pedestrian stepped into its path and was struck by the sedan.
According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor vehicles Crash Dashboard, there have been 335 pedestrian crashes so far this year in Duval County and 32 deaths from those crashes.