March 18, 2011 - Norfolk, VA - A teenage pedestrian who had been on life support after he tried to cross busy Interstate 264 in Norfolk on March 7 has died from his injuries, according to a report on Wavy.com.
A pickup truck ran into John Snowden III, 18, of Chesapeake, near the Downtown Tunnel around 7 p.m., Virginia State Police said. He was crossing the eastbound lanes of traffic to reach Berkley Avenue when he was hit.
The driver of the pickup, Christopher Jorgensen, 36, of Virginia Beach, swerved when he saw Snowden, but he ended up clipping the young man. Police said Jorgensen will not be charged in the pedestrian accident.
A family friend said Snowden's parents were in shock and they didn't know why their son was trying to cross the six-lane highway, but a police spokesperson said he had been looking for a shortcut to get to Berkley.
The Downtown Tunnel's west lanes had to be closed for several hours as paramedics and police responded to the I-264 pedestrian crash. The on-ramps at City Hall Avenue and, St. Paul's Boulevard were also shut down. Shortly after 10 p.m. all lanes and ramps had re-opened.
Snowden was a 2010 graduate of Deep Creek High School and had been working two jobs.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2009 there were 757 fatalities as a result of vehicle accidents in Virginia.
As a service to the residents of Norfolk and the surrounding areas, our firm will frequently publish blogs about local traffic accidents. We do this to raise awareness about the common types of motor vehicle accidents that occur in Northern Virginia that may result in serious injury or traffic fatalities.
Common accidents include, but are not limited to:
- single-car accidents;
- hit-and-run accidents;
- accidents caused by hazardous road conditions; and
- accidents caused by aggressive driving or distracted drivers.
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