5:31 PM: Thanks for the tip. Avoid Alki Avenue at 53rd SW – sizable SPD/SFD response for a collision. More info to come.
5:47 PM: Our crew just arrived and the scene has already cleared. The incident log suggests someone is being transported to the hospital, though, so we have an inquiry out to SFD.
8:45 PM: SFD says a 70-year-old man was hurt in what “was reported as a vehicle/pedestrian collision.” He was in stable condition when taken to Harborview Medical Center.
We are heading that way though if as the other comment says the emergency crews are indeed all gone, we’re going to have a more difficult time finding out. The incident log indicates someone is being transported to the hospital, so we’ll send a query to SFD.
I went past the scene before the emergency vehicles got there. Looked like a pedestrian was struck in the crosswalk. They were conscious and moving, but lying in the street. There were several folks redirecting traffic and tending to the victim. I believe the car that hit them stopped.
I just added a bit of info. I don’t know the status of the driver who hit the pedestrian, however, and won’t be able to ask police until tomorrow.
Well, that was my friend, unfortunately. Busted ribs and a messed up face (preliminary info to me just now.)From what I gather, hit and run.
Awww, a 70 year old man. Heart breaking, he is alive but injured and in pain and will be in pain for many months. Not to mention his spirit of life might also be crushed for a while. A hit and run, granted dark, granted maybe dark clothing, but really now. There are so many people walking and moving around and drivers can be so concerned with just getting to their destination fast as if that really matters. The driver drove off and left an injured person, there is a place for these people in the universe. Constant vigilance when driving is a must.
We live just off this intersection and drivers are crazy along this road. My wife was honked at my someone while walking across the intersection carrying out 5 month old yesterday. Insanity.
Where are all the people commenting about how badly little speed bumps will infringe on their rights and enjoyment of Alki?
First off hopefully person hit has quick recovery. Second is speed bumps would of most likely made zero difference in this sad incident. Was speed the cause or was someone not paying attention ? High ? Drunk ? Just didn’t want to stop ? Please tell me how speed bumps would have helped with this sad incident….. until this city gets more police on the streets that ticket people and holding them accountable for their illegal behavior, these types of incidents will continue to happen more often. Heck seems like 10% of motor vehicles I see on the road today don’t have license plates or current tabs……. Growing up on Alki we had many of same issues as today minus the shootings, but police in old unmarked cars and a couple beater vans would enforce the laws and hold incidents to a minimum. Trouble makers would not come back because they knew they’d end up in jail…….Speed bump every street, won’t make a difference in cases like this…….
We live in a different world than when you grew up I suspect. In any case no one thing is going to solve the problem of reckless and dangerous driving on Harbor and Alki Aves….speed bumps and police presence are just two of the methods but there will need to be others to bring this crown jewel of Seattle back to being a safe and happy destination for local folks and visitors alike. So sorry for the gentleman that was injured. My dog and I have had to dodge many a distracted and speeding driver while crossing at a designated crosswalk in the ten plus years that we have lived here…..so happy that the city is starting to really take this seriously.
Any more updates about the driver apprehended? What time did this incident occur?
PEDESTRIAN in ALKI HIT & RUN RESPONDS I WAS THE ‘VIC’ in this incident, as TV cops would say, and I’d like to share a couple of thoughts: First, a thought for the driver, who asked if I was okay, and upon hearing me plead for help actually just drove away: In all honesty, it takes a really cold soul to hurt someone so badly and then just leave them in the street. For all you know, delayed help could have resulted in death, and two CT scans did indeed show a minor brain bleed, along with a couple of broken ribs, a leg badly twisted from the knee down, a broken big toe (somehow), and a swelling on my face that looks a lot like black & purple bowling ball under the cuts and contusions. All things considered, I’m (still) the luckiest man in the world. You may be, too. Maybe. The best news, although not for you, is that someone has indeed come forward with your license plate. So . . . gotcha. Or will. But . . . it would still be nice if there are additional witnesses who got the plate, just in case multiple witnesses are needed. Recognizing what happened, though, which I’ll share with other readers momentarily, I nevertheless recognize that accidents happen. We all goof. And I see no reason to jail a young man on felony hit & run and vehicular assault charges, or to subject him to the weighty fines which, I’m told can easily be as high as $50,000 (presumably for the City’s pain and suffering. That’s a joke but I have to say, the police have a very tough job and I always find them highly responsive and professional, as they’ve been in this case, from first response to follow-up statements, in spite of all their current challenges). In any event, I’m going to give you five days – until, noon, Thursday, December 15, to contact me to settle the matter privately and avoid essentially ruining your life. You can reach me at geoffreyabdian@gmail.com. If I haven’t heard from you by then, I’ll give the plate to the police and let them handle it. Your call. Second, a big shout out and thanks to everyone for their interest and concern. I’m not fine yet, but I’m pretty sure that, over time, I will be. So, thank you. Third, what actually happened: I’m that guy who never just walks out into the crosswalk, primarily because I think it’s more harmful to the environment to make, say, 20 1.5-ton vehicles actually come to a stop and idle momentarily, and then spew out even more exhaust while accelerating again – than to make a single pedestrian who’s happy to do his part stand there for a minute and cross whenever it’s safe. So, I will either step back, or wave drivers on with my thanks for even slowing. I wish more pedestrians would do that. Anyway, the crosswalk at 53rd is very close by my home and visible from my window. After 14 years here I know it well. It is also well lit, by a nearby lamppost. That evening, Thursday the 8th around 4:45 p.m. it was almost dark but, in response to whoever posited that I was dressed in all-dark clothes, I was wearing black sweats, a medium / light gray coat, and very white athletic shoes. And it wasn’t a rainy or an otherwise low-visibility evening and, with the nearby lamppost. visibility was not an issue for any attentive driver. Nevertheless I doubt this young man hit me intentionally – although it felt that way because he was accelerating so his vehicle was suddenly upon me, and then in those final nanoseconds more quickly . . . upon me. If I had to guess, I’d say he must have seen the lull-opening in traffic on Alki from the stop sign at 53rd. I don’t know if he actually stopped at the stop sign, but I’d guess he saw the same opening in traffic both ways along Alki and wanted to get out into Alki traffic when he could. (Traffic was getting moderately heavier by that time.) So I think he just didn’t see me. I can see how I might have been hidden from his view by the post at the edge end of his windshield. He had hesitated momentarily, I thought because he was waiting for me, though now I think simply to confirm the traffic in both directions created an opening for him. Then he just turned right into me, still accelerating to get out into traffic. I don’t think he was going more than maybe eight or ten miles per hour when I went flying. He would have been on my left side, and I must have turned at that last split second, more to face him. I think the cracked ribs came from landing on his hood, and I think he then must have braked, as I slid off his front left corner and, spinning around, landed on my face. After two low-back surgeries, two artificial hip replacements and about 140,000 chiropractic adjustments over the course of my life, I was very concerned, through the shock of it all and having the wind knocked out, about how crippling it would prove. Fortunately, those many past problems seem at this point not to have been exacerbated. The saddest and most shocking part was, and remains, that he actually asked me – through his open window or standing up beside his driver door, “Hey man, are you okay?” And when I clearly was not, was thinking I was dying and pleaded for help, I thought he was going to help me, until I realized he had just driven away. The next thing I knew, a very kind young lady, I think her name was Lucy, did help me, and stayed with me and made sure I didn’t then get run over again by another inattentive driver as I lay there unable to move. (And if you see this Lucy, please contact me for a little thank-you gift). That’s basically the story, but a word of caution: You want to kick yourself when you wonder . . . why didn’t you just get out the way? Or . . . whatever. Believe me, sometimes the window between realization and reaction is so brief that by the time you realize you’re getting hit in the next split second, you barely have time to flinch. If you’re lucky. I used to reiterate a key lesson to my son when he was a toddler, asking, “When are we careful?” And he got it. “Awe de time!” Words to wise. Again, thanks to all. Geoffrey Abdian
Mr. Abdian, you seem like a really great guy. I’m so sorry that happened to you, and I appreciate both your pointed humor and your compassionate attitude toward the guy who treated you so shabbily. We need more folks like you in the community and I’m glad it sounds like you’ll be able to recover. If the West Seattle community can help you out with funds for your medical bills, some meals, handling some chores, etc. I hope you’ll ask here and receive the same kind of generosity and compassion that you’re willing to show others.
Mucho apreciado. Very kind of you to say so. I’m rarely inclined to ask for help, though unless I’m lying in the street dying! Anyway, thanks for your thoughts.
I meant to also give a big thank-you shout out to the fire department medics as well. Not the first time I’ve been in their good care, and they are always . . . cherished. Although someday, if I ever figure out how to start a Go Fund Me page, I’d raise money to train them how to cut clothes off of people in their care, so they can be sewn up / repaired later, rather than looking like irregular confetti with big-teeth edges caused by dull scissors. I mean, my favorite, and cherished hoodie from my days as a Montana firefighter in my youth . . . destroyed! But that’s about all I could ever mark ’em down for. Every other category, A+ So, once again, thanks to all!GA
Here is footage of the car driving away. It is the dark vehicle, two cards behind the truck. If anyone has any information on the truck or the vehicle, please reply. Thank you.https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17eNC_ptFlxZGEWHAMOTYH13V0q0JQj1E?usp=sharing
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