Wheelchair Hit-and-Run

Shudders:

A man in a wheelchair died when he was struck by a car early Wednesday in Sacramento.

Police received a call of a person struck by a car at about 1:30 a.m. at 19th and X streets. Police and fire personnel responded.

The man in his 50s was declared dead at the scene. His name was not released.

A witness told officers that the man in the wheelchair was in the street when a car eastbound on X Street struck him. Sacramento police said in an activity log that the man in the wheelchair was not in a crosswalk and was going against a red light when crossing X Street.

The car was described as a white two-door Honda or Acura. The motorist did not stop.

This is about the time I'm out driving around, and it occurred less than half a mile from my house: an intersection I pass through every day. I wasn't out driving around on Wednesday evening, though.

Wheelchairs in the street always make me worry. There was that fellow who got clobbered at 27th and L Streets, over my Sutter's Fort, a few years back. I cringe every time I go through that intersection. One time, I saw a car turn onto J Street at 13th just as a woman in a wheel chair was crossing in the crosswalk, and she screamed bloody murder when she realized she was going to be run over right there and then. Fortunately, the driver heard her screams and stopped his car.

This fellow crossing X Street deserved better.