Two pedestrians killed crossing Houston streets

9th most dangerous area in US

Matt Dietrichson, Aug 28, 12.

Two pedestrians were killed in unrelated traffic collisions after being hit while crossing roads in the Houston area Monday, according to The Houston Chronicle:

A 51-year-old man died in the 7900 block of W. FM 1960 near Tomball Parkway in northwest Houston about 10:15 p.m., according to the Houston Police Department. The man, whose name has not been released, died at the scene.

No other injuries were reported.

Police said the man tried to cross W. FM 1960 when he was hit by a green Toyota Tacoma pickup that was traveling westbound on the road. The driver stopped, called 911 and waited for police to arrive at the scene.

The driver was given a field sobriety test and voluntarily submitted to a blood draw. No charges have been filed so far in the case.

In an earlier collision in northwest Harris County, April Kirchberg died in the 6200 Barker Cypress near W. Little York about 2:15 a.m., according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies said Kirchberg was flown by LifeFlight medical helicopter to Memorial Hermann-The Texas Medical Center, where she later died.

No other injuries were reported.

Deputies said Kirchberg dashed into the road, failing to yield the right of way to a Honda Civic, which hit her.

The case is being investigated.

The Houston area was cited as one of the top 10 most dangerous places for pedestrians in the country in recent years. In 2011, Transportation For America, based in Washington, D.C., ranked the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown area 9th among the 10 most dangerous metropolitan areas for pedestrians, after noting that 1,024 pedestrian deaths had occurred there from 2000 through 2009.

In Houston, between 2008 and June 2011, police reported 2,204 auto/pedestrian crashes. Of those, 174 involved a pedestrian death.