COWETA, Okla. — A pedestrian who died following a crash on Highway 51 near East 131st Street and South 289th East Avenue has been identified.
According to a spokesperson for the City of Coweta, the victim’s name is Howard Johnson. He was 69 and was a resident of Coweta.
The city said it appeared Johnson tried to cross the highway at an area without stoplights or a crosswalk and was hit by a vehicle.
That spokesperson said at this time, police believe it was an accident.
Highway 51 was shut down in both directions after the crash but is now back open.
FOX23 spoke with Coweta Police Deputy Chief Ron Peterson about the crash.
“People who do cross there think they can make it or they wouldn’t do it. However, for a lot of people, I think it’s hard to judge the speed of vehicles. They think they have a lot of room when they don’t. I think a lot of the time drivers think they have a lot of time to respond and that’s the problem,” Peterson said.
It’s not just about the drivers or the people who are walking. Most of the community’s concern is about there not being a crosswalk or sidewalk to get across the four-lane highway.
“We don’t want people to cross there. We want people to use the crosswalk. Understand that you got to walk a lot farther to do that, but at the end of the day its a lot safer, and its probably worth walking that distance to get down there to a safe crosswalk,” Peterson said.
FOX23 spoke with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to see if there are any plans to do something for that stretch of the highway since there are no sidewalks.
They said they would look into existing traffic signals in the area as well as a potential location to add a crosswalk.