Walking Across Interstates: 4 Killed, One Injured

ATLANTA, GA — State officials are warning pedestrians to stay off interstate highways in the wake of a series of deadly accidents. In the span of a week, four people have died and a woman was critically injured while trying to walk across interstates in Metro Atlanta, according to media reports.

Walking across interstate highways is against state law, the Georgia Department of Transportation is telling pedestrians. And GDOT cautions motorists that if their car breaks down on an interstate, they should stay in the vehicle and await help.

On Wednesday night, within five hours, two people died in separate accidents while trying to cross Interstate 20, WSB-TV Channel 2 Action News reported. At about 6:30 p.m., a man was hit by a vehicle while trying to walk across the westbound lanes of I-20 near I-285, according to the Atlanta police. The man was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he later died.

Later on Wednesday night, at around midnight, another man was hit and killed by a vehicle when he tried to run across I-20 near the exit for Joseph Lowery Boulevard, Channel 2 reported.

In three other accidents:

• At about 8 p.m. Tuesday, three vehicles struck and critically injured a woman who was trying to cross the Downtown Connector, the stretch of highway where I-75 and I-85 converge in the city's central business district, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
• On Friday, a 19-year-old Georgia Tech student was struck and killed by an SUV while trying to cross the Downtown Connector near 17th Street, the AJC reported.
• On Nov. 8, a 52-year-old man died after a vehicle hit him as he tried to cross I-20 near Panola Road in DeKalb County.

In a statement Thursday, GDOT reminded everyone using interstate highways that due to high-speed traffic, walking along them or across them can by dangerous.

"However, sometimes motorists involved in accidents become pedestrians when they exit the safety of their vehicles," GDOT said. "If you are involved in an accident on the interstate, the safest thing to do is to remain in your vehicle, call 911 and 511, and await help from law enforcement, emergency personnel or GDOT HEROs," or Highway Emergency Response Operators.

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