On Wednesday, July 20, 2016, about 4:19 p.m., a 2015 Volkswagen Jetta occupied by a 19-year-old female driver and a 17-year-old male passenger was eastbound on Central Avenue (State Route 214) near the Addison Road Metrorail (Metro) station in Capitol Heights, Prince George’s County, Maryland. Meanwhile, an 18-year-old male pedestrian had crossed the eastbound lanes of Central Avenue and was standing in a crosswalk on the median that separates the opposing lanes of travel. As the driver approached the median, she lost control of her vehicle, which traveled onto the median and struck a traffic sign, a concrete raised curb, the pedestrian, a pedestrian warning sign, and a barrier fence along the north side of the median. The vehicle then left the median, continued about 200 feet east, crossing all westbound lanes of Central Avenue, and came to final rest on the sidewalk.
According to the Maryland police report, the pedestrian was dragged by the car into the westbound lanes. A Metro transit police officer who was in the station’s parking lot responded and summoned the fire department. The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene.
The temperature at the time of the crash was 82.4°F, winds were from the north at 4.6 mph, and skies were mostly cloudy.
The probable cause of the crash in Capitol Heights, Maryland, was the unlicensed driver’s excessive speed and failure to maintain control of the car so as to avoid colliding with the pedestrian.
