JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is looking for a driver involved in a hit-and-run in Downtown Jacksonville Saturday night that left one person dead. It's the latest in a string of pedestrian fatalities so far this year.
Police say a person was attempting to cross at Kings Road and Davis Street around 11 p.m. Saturday night when they were struck by a car and killed. Police say that car then left the scene of the crime.
According to JSO, the crash marks the 134th traffic fatality in Duval County this year.
19 pedestrians died after being hit by a car or truck in 2023, according to JSO data, many of the incidents happened near shopping centers or stores.
A team of safety experts from the Florida Department of Transportation examine each of these fatal incidents and determine what can be done to improve safety. Officials say some life-saving tools are already in place.
“We call them RFB’s, so rapid flashing beacons, are also used. We have a lot of different ways that we can implement these, basically to attract the attention of the motorist to make sure that they recognize that someone’s in the cross walk and to yield to pedestrians," Hampton Ray, Florida Department of Transportation, said.
FDOT leads a safety initiative called ‘Target Zero’ that aims to eliminate fatalities around the county through education, engineering and enforcement.
The biggest tips, eliminate distractions and slow down.
“Just educating motorists, helping to modify that human behavior, to make sure that when we are on the road that we’re always being mindful of other drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists," Ray said.
A reminder to drivers, by law, cars must yield the right of way to pedestrians in a cross walk.