A woman standing on a downtown Columbia sidewalk was hospitalized after being injured in a pedestrian accident caused by a driver attempting to beat a red light.
The driver struck another vehicle coming through the intersection. Both vehicles then collided with the woman, who was waiting on a corner.
A pedestrian is injured by a car every eight minutes in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Every 108 minutes a pedestrian is killed.
Pedestrian accidents account for approximately 10 percent of all traffic fatalities nationwide.
Here is a report from WIS-TV:
Columbia Police said a man trying to beat a red light at Hampton Street and Assembly Street caused the collision that left the unnamed pedestrian with a leg injury.
Gary Jones, 54, was cited for disregarding a traffic control device after the incident.
Police say Jones was traveling eastbound on Hampton Street when he ran a red light and hit a vehicle traveling northbound on Assembly. The two vehicles then hit a woman who was standing on the sidewalk at the northeast corner of the intersection.
EMS transported the pedestrian to an area hospital. A spokesperson for the police department said she appeared to have an injury to her leg or ankle.
A total of 818 people died in South Carolina auto accidents in 2011, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety. Thousands were injured.
Source: WIS-TV http://www.wistv.com/story/20660077/police-pedestrian-hospitalized-after-driver-tries-to-beat-red-light