The California Highway Patrol is warning people to stay out of freeway lanes; even if they have spilled or dropped something from their vehicle; after a woman was fatally struck Saturday morning while trying to retrieve a lost box on the Capital City California Freeway.
Instead, people should pull over in a safe place and call the CHP for help, said spokeswoman Officer Lizz Dutton.
“You never want to be running out in the freeway,” she said. “Ever.”
About 6 a.m. Saturday, a woman died after being struck multiple times by cars as she tried to retrieve a box of hooded sweat shirts that had fallen from the pickup truck she was riding in, Dutton said.
She and a friend, who was driving, apparently were on their way to sell the sweat shirts, possibly at an open air market, Dutton said.
At least one box came loose from the secured load and spilled onto eastbound Capital City Freeway just west of Watt Avenue. The driver pulled over, and the woman ran out into the slow lane when an approaching vehicle struck her.
The driver of that car saw her and tried to brake, but was unable to avoid the woman, Dutton said. Upon impact, the woman was thrown into the next lane, where she was again hit by vehicles. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Tuesday, the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office was still trying to identify the woman.
Dutton said alcohol and drugs do not appear to be involved in the incident. Instead, it appears to be an unfortunate accident resulting from unsafe actions, she said.
The woman was wearing dark clothes at the time of the accident, it was still dark outside, and, Dutton said, “pedestrians don’t belong in the roadway.”
California Pedestrian Accident Attorney Website
