January 30, 2012 in News, City

Emphasis patrols follow Spokane pedestrian-auto crashes

Meghann M. Cuniff The Spokesman-Review

Tags:car crashesdrunken drivingpedestriansSpokane Police Departmentvehicular assaultvehicular homicide

Crashes that hurt one man and killed another in Spokane last weekend occurred as local authorities are working to emphasize pedestrian safety to motorists.

Emphasis patrols Tuesday and next month in Cheney are part of an ongoing effort in Spokane County to reduce the number of pedestrians injured or killed by motorists each year.

A Cheney police officer in regular clothes will walk within crosswalks several times near First and D streets between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Three other patrols are scheduled for different areas of the city next month.

“We use it as an educational opportunity to make sure people really are being careful,” said Kim Papich, spokeswoman for the Spokane Regional Heath District, which sponsors the grant-funded patrols. “In Spokane, we have a big problem with failure to yield.”

Other law enforcement agencies in Spokane County also conduct occasional emphasis patrols through a $200,000 grant from Spokane Regional Transportation Council.

Pedestrians have the right of way at all intersections in Spokane, including those with no crosswalks.

A ticket for failing to yield to a pedestrian in Spokane County is $124. Pedestrians who don’t use marked or unmarked crosswalks can be fined $56. A pedestrian crossing at the corner of an intersection is in an unmarked crosswalk.

But police say two motorists arrested on felony charges this weekend did more than just fail to yield the right of way.

Officers believe Hannah Kay Hahn, 21, and Candice Louise Wilson, 30, were intoxicated when they struck pedestrians in separate incidents Saturday.

A third drunken crash occurred as police were investigating Wilson’s crash: A drunken driver sideswiped Spokane Police Officer Paul Taylor’s patrol car as it was near Wall Street and Buckeye Avenue. Taylor avoided injury, but the crash damaged a door of the patrol car, he said. The motorist was arrested for drunken driving and hit-and-run.

Wilson, who has no criminal history, was released from jail after appearing in Superior Court on a vehicular assault charge.

Hahn left jail on bond over the weekend on a vehicular assault charge, but she now faces a vehicular homicide charge because the man she allegedly struck with her SUV, Dennis Burgess, 47, died from injuries suffered in the crash. Hahn also faces a charge of felony hit-and-run because she left the scene of the crash at Market Street and Providence Avenue, Taylor said. Hahn failed to show up for a Monday court appearance.

The Spokane Regional Heath District said about 20 pedestrians and bicyclists are struck each month in Spokane. Of the 997 pedestrian and bicyclist collisions that occurred in Spokane County between 2006 and 2009, 3 percent resulted in death, while 11 percent resulted in serious injury. Sometimes those crashes result in only a ticket for failure to yield to a pedestrian. But if police suspect the driver was intoxicated, driving recklessly or driving with a flagrant disregard for safety, felony charges can apply.

Deputies suspected that was the case when they stopped Hahn about 2:17 a.m. Saturday as she sped in an SUV north on Market near Hawthorne Road. Hahn told deputies she thought she hit someone with her car. Deputies found “some small bottles of alcohol” on her and say she smelled of intoxicants, according to court documents. The SUV’s windshield was broken and its front end and hood were damaged.

Police found Burgess unconscious in the street near East Providence Avenue and Market with severe head trauma. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. Family said Burgess was a father of three and worked as a carpenter and landscaper.

Hospital staff obtained a blood sample from Hahn, but the results are not yet known.

Also on Saturday, about 9:42 p.m., a pedestrian was crossing Buckeye at Wall while southbound at or near a crosswalk when he was struck by a car driven by Wilson, police say. Wilson stayed at the scene, and police say she admitted to having a “a drink’ when she finished work about 5:30 p.m. Her blood-alcohol level registered at 0.149 percent during a breathalyzer test, according to court documents.

The pedestrian, identified in documents as a man with a last name Donelson, suffered bleed on his brain and remained hospitalized Monday.

21 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

Slightlyworried on January 30 at 8:46 p.m.
“Pedestrians have the right of way at all intersections in Spokane, including those with no crosswalks.”
Unless of course a SPD cruiser is on the road.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/jun/29/officers-text-message-ruled-a-factor-in/
catfuzz on January 30 at 8:50 p.m.
How about using these sting operations to bust the unsafe PEDESTRIANS out there!? They ALSO have a responsibility to cross safely! How about writing some tickets to jay walkers downtown who ignore don’t walk signals? How about handing out some tickets to those who cross in unsafe locations? How about ticketing teenagers around high schools who LITERALLY think they can walk into the road at any time WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING?? Shadle Park High is the worst for this! Pedestrians have responsibility too!
meyerlansky on January 30 at 8:50 p.m.
Touchet, slightly worried!!! I do wonder what ever happened to the officer who ran over and killed the person who was walking in the crosswalk?
Crusty1 on January 30 at 9:13 p.m.
I suggest that if the cops are going to do that then they also check to see if people at night wear clothes that can be seen better than dressing in black. I see many mnay people wearing dark clothing and crossing streets or walking in the streets. Pedestrians have a responsibility too!
oink on January 30 at 9:36 p.m.
I do Believe that Officer Ennis is on the short list to be the new Chief. Right behind Karl The Klubber Thompson. Karl has a slight edge (what with 3 nothces on his junk)
This just in… Both the Klubber and the bumper car driver have the full support and endorsement of the Guild !!!
Someone… or… Jury just got it wrong
Dazzeetrader11 on January 30 at 9:48 p.m.
It’s an impoerfect law . I think the pedestrians just stroll off onto roadways think everyone will stop. Well, that isn’the case. Dark clothing at night and someone who decides to test the improbable liklihood that they will be seen is taking their lives in their hands. No law is written for stupid people…….you can be right and still be dead.
Heck, it’s clear from data that half the drivers aren’t focused on anythng but the road. If someone cannot be seen or if the driver is distracted (half), there will be trouble.
Use your brains. It’s not the police or the law that fails. It’s the people who are beyond reason….and walk without common sense. In heavy traffic …like in Manito during the day, people might be seen better but the pedestrains STILL are under the illusion that they are safe under any and all conditions. Not true.
Same with bikes….and there are unfortunate deaths as you in Spokane have seen. Even moms with strollers just roll out into the streets…kids in tow….and they don’t pay attention.
Be reasonablke. If you peds and biksters think you own the roads ( or crosswalks) , you might be wrong. It might cost you….a lot. Some driver might go to jail (drunk or not) but you might go to a funeral home. Just be reasonable, respectful and uber careful
liveinfearoftheSPD on January 30 at 10:43 p.m.
Slightlyworried I had the same thought when I read this article. Another fine example of the laws are for “US”, not “THEM”
John_Thomas on January 30 at 10:48 p.m.
Leaving the scene of a vehicle-pedestrian accident is just flat reprehensible. I agree that it’s a two way street (no pun intended) when it comes to being responsible, but I would like to see those who hit and run punished more severely. There’s just no excuse for leaving someone to die in the middle of the street after you hit them with your car. Someone please make an example of these cowards.
HealthAdvocate on January 30 at 11:14 p.m.
Check out www.stickmanknows.com. That is the campaign Meaghann refers to that provides education and emphasis patrols. And the patrols equally target drivers and peds.
The website is great and is specific to the laws in Spokane and has a lot of other useful info for all users of the road. Statistically, it’s a three-way tie for who’s at fault for our collisions—peds, bicyclists and drivers. Moral of the story? We could all be doing a better job.
HealthAdvocate on January 30 at 11:19 p.m.
Forgot to say there’s a Stickman Knows iPhone app too!
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stickman/id460123335?mt=8
JBlim on January 31 at 6:00 a.m.
Dazee says “I think the pedestrians just stroll off onto roadways think everyone will stop. Well, that isn’the case.”
I used to think that if you had a ‘walk’ signal, that meant a red light protected you from traffic. Then I almost got hit by a bus down by the Spokesman building who had a green light. How could that be? It must be the genius traffic engineers we have in Spokane. The moral is, don’t pay any attention to ‘walk’ or ‘don’t walk’ signs.
Bruce (aka thatoneguy) on January 31 at 7:02 a.m.
Interesting that people on here see this so strongly as a pedestrians-at-fault issue.
de3 on January 31 at 8:13 a.m.
In each case in the story above, either the driver or the pedestrian or both were drunk.
Doesn’t look like these cases have much to do with failure to yield to pedestrians but I am sure local PD will turn this into a money maker and thereby treat the wrong problem.
The problem is drinking and depression that infect so many around here, not cars failing to yield for pedestrians.
Crusty1 on January 31 at 8:46 a.m.
Hey Cheney Cops. If you wantto bust people then why not hide downtown and watch all the J-walkers who cross going between Goofy’s and the Eagles Tavern between “F” St and College on first. They dare you to hit them. Buzzed a few many times for this!! Also, I am going to sit down there this morning and see if you have one foot down inthe crosswalk first before you start walking as well as how much reaction time you are giving the drivers. Cheney police do not have a good reputation for playing by the rules.
voice_of_reason on January 31 at 8:50 a.m.
Thanks Bruce.
Does anyone accept fault anymore? Someone died and your response is “those damn pedestrians!”? Three issues within a span of 5 hours, each involving intoxicated drivers, and as a collective group you berate everyone and anything but those responsible?
No wonder we have so many ‘personal injury’ lawsuits - it’s everyone’s fault but theirs.
reservedparking on January 31 at 8:53 a.m.
Pedestrains, while perhaps not ‘at fault’, need to maintain situational awareness. You can’t just stroll out in to traffic without even looking. Parking lots are even worse!
Bruce (aka thatoneguy) on January 31 at 8:57 a.m.
^ …and yet the quality of driving in parking lots is soooo high.
??Riddler?? on January 31 at 10:04 a.m.
?? Checklist for Gonzaga Students at Night ??
Blue GU hoodie, with the hood up? Check!
Phone or Ipod with ear buds screwed in tight? Check!
Dark blue or black jeans? Check!
Dark athletic shoes with NO reflecto tabs? Check!
richie on January 31 at 10:47 a.m.
The location of the Market street incident has the “Special K” bar written all over it for either the victim and/or the driver (just a hunch). Everyone in the Hillyard area knows this is a great place to get over served on the cheap. This place has been the epicenter of many alky fueled incidents and deaths in recent history.
monkeyman on January 31 at 11:51 a.m.
I was wondering if there is any relation of these two incidents to the sidewalk conditions due to ice/snow.
I haven’t seen any mention of it in the news, but first hand I could see that many sidewalks were non-usable in the past weeks. Even if they only have a few inches of snow/ice, some people may find it easier to walk on the road itself.
Also, specially on the intersections perhaps the sidewalks get more /ice/snow accumulated, which would limit access points while trying to cross the road.
Any comments related to this observation?
(I posted this comment on another thread earlier. More relevant here.)
kateaallison on January 31 at 12:38 p.m.
I absolutely have had to walk on the road itself recently while walking to work because of the ice on sidewalks that homeowners and business owners have failed to clear. I twisted my ankle badly trying to walk on the ice one day and ever since have walked in the road where the ice has made the sidewalk impassable.
As for the blaming of pedestrians vs. blaming of drivers, I agree that the responsibility falls to both parties in order to avoid accidents. However, the driver naturally has a greater duty due to the greater chance of injuring another person. Most problems happen at night, though I’ve had people nearly hit me when I had a “Walk” signal and was crossing the street in midday. I figure anything that increases the awareness of pedestrians and drivers alike is a good thing.