Pedestrian dies after being hit by a car in a Salt Lake City crosswalk

SALT LAKE CITY — A pedestrian was hit by a truck while in a crosswalk in the area of 1950 West 500 South Friday morning, police said.

Detective Greg Lovell with the Salt Lake City police Department said the pedestrian was taken to the hospital in critical condition. The Salt Lake City Police Department released a statement Saturday saying he died hours later.

Salt Lake PD identified the victim as 65-year-old Jesse Marchant.

The crash happened in an industrial area next to several city offices, and it’s prompting a police safety warning.

“We hope that drivers will see the pedestrians, but they don’t always, and so as a pedestrian you still need to be aware of where traffic is,” Lovell said.

There’s a possibility the person hit was a city worker, but police can’t say for certain. There are city offices on one side of the street and a parking lot on the other that a lot of workers use, and then cross the road to get to work.

There is a signal light at the intersection that lights up for pedestrians, but police said the lights weren’t on at the time of the accident.

Police said the driver of the car was cooperating with officers. They said it’s too early to tell whether or not that driver will be cited for failure to yield or something else, but the person walking did have the right of way.

Police said it’s a good reminder for drivers to be extra aware when they’re driving through intersections or crosswalks, as that’s where most accidents happen.

No information about the victim was released, except police confirmed they are an adult.

The surrounding road was closed for several hours while the CAR (Collision, Analysis & Reconstruction) Team responded.