Over the course of five days, three major accidents involving a moving vehicle hitting a pedestrian occurred within Natrona County.
The accidents on August 5th, 2019 and August 9th, 2019 resulted in a pedestrian fatality. The pedestrian involved in the August 10th, 2019 accident remains in serious condition.
As our community grieves these recent tragedies, Casper Police would like to remind everyone, pedestrians and drivers alike, to be extremely vigilant while on the roadways.
If you are walking, only cross the road using a designated crosswalk. Always look both ways before crossing the street. Even though pedestrians have the right of way, do not assume a car sees you and is going to stop. Wait for a car to come to a complete stop before stepping out into the roadway. If you are on foot at night, wear reflective clothing, carry a flashlight, or use the flashlight application on your phone to help drivers see you.
If you are driving, be aware and look for pedestrians in the road, crossing the road, or walking alongside the road. Do not assume they see you. If a pedestrian is crossing the road or is waiting to cross, stop your vehicle and remain stopped until the pedestrian has fully crossed the road. If driving past someone walking along the roadway, significantly slow down your vehicle, move to the other lane if possible and give the person as much room as you can by driving around him or her.
“We’re all shaken up by these accidents over the last week,” said Casper Police Public Information Officer Rebekah Ladd. “Anytime we lose a member of our community it’s devastating, but when it was preventable, that makes it even sadder. We’ve got to do better. It’s easy to have an ‘it won’t happen to me mindset’ about this…but the reality is, it can.”
State laws and City of Casper ordinances allow Casper Police to issue citations to help avoid these tragedies. Crossing the road at a non-designated crosswalk, not stopping for a pedestrian in the roadway, along with other unsafe practices are all offenses that can be cited.
“We believe it is our job to do all we can to help prevent accidents like this from occurring,” said Casper Police Traffic Sergeant Jeff Bullard. “We cannot ignore seemingly minor offenses, like not using a crosswalk, when the result of those could be the loss of life.”
The August 5th, 2019 incident occurred around 9:15 pm, just West of the intersection of CY Avenue and Wyoming Boulevard and is currently under investigation by the Casper Police Department.
The August 9th, 2019 incident occurred around 12:40 am at milepost 23 on US 20-26 and is currently under investigation by the Wyoming Highway Patrol.
The August 10th, 2019 incident occurred around 1:00 am in the 300 block of West Midwest Avenue and is currently under investigation by the Casper Police Department.
Updates in the investigations conducted by the Casper Police Department will be released as they become available.
The Casper Police Department is dedicated to the safety of our community. We believe through education we can help prevent tragedy.