Pedestrian killed in North Austin raises city's traffic death toll to 5 in 2022
A pedestrian was killed early Sunday after being struck by a vehicle in North Austin, authorities said.
Austin-Travis County EMS medics were called out to Research Boulevard near North Lamar Boulevard around 2 a.m. Sunday.
The pedestrian died at the scene of the crash, medics reported.
Authorities did not release any other information about the incident.
Before Monday, authorities said at least four people had been killed this year in Austin traffic. At this time in 2021, a year that eventually recorded a total of 120 deaths, four traffic deaths had been reported.
Among the most recent cases:
• On Jan. 11, a maintenance worker was struck and killed by a car, which then crashed into ditch, killing its 3-year-old passenger, police said. Officers responded at 10:30 a.m. to the 13100 block of the North MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) service road in North Austin.
Investigators think the driver was heading south when he left the road and struck the worker, identified by police as 41-year-old Cesar Ramirez-Hernandez, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
"The vehicle continued southbound striking a cement drainage ditch causing the vehicle to flip," police said in a statement. "The vehicle received extensive damage to the back driver’s side where the passenger, Amira Owens, was seated."
The toddler also was pronounced dead at the scene, but the driver was taken to a hospital with injuries not considered to be life-threatening.
The incident was Austin’s first deadly crash of 2022.
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• The driver in a single-vehicle crash, identified by police as 32-year-old Darlan Manrique Pena Rodriguez, was killed Jan. 15 on U.S. 183 on the exit ramp to U.S. 290 East.
Police responded to reports of the crash around 1:05 a.m. Investigators think Pena Rodriguez was heading east when he struck the traffic divider between the highway and the ramp for U.S. 290. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The crash resulted in Austin's third traffic death of 2022.
• A motorcyclist, identified by police as 51-year old Alberto Martinez, was killed on Jan. 16 in Northwest Austin. Officers responded at 11:03 p.m. to the 7800 block of San Felipe Boulevard, where they think Martinez was heading south when he struck the curb and was thrown from his motorcycle. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
That crash resulted in Austin's fourth traffic death of the year.
Anyone with more information about these cases may call Austin police investigators at 512-974-8111, call the Crime Stoppers tip line at 512-472-8477 or use the Crime Stoppers app. Tips also can be submitted through Austin police’s mobile app, Austin PD.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Pedestrian dies in North Austin, medics say; 5th traffic death of 2022
