(SIOUX CITY, IA) Sioux City Police say a Florida man has died after he was hit by a car while crossing Gordon Drive last night without using a cross walk. Businesses in the area say walking conditions aren't very pedestrian friendly.
54-year-old Daniel Leighninger was trying to cross Gordon Drive to get to Hy-Vee, but before he could make it across the street safely, he was hit by a car.
It was almost 6 o'clock Wednesday night when police were called to the Hy-Vee driveway on Gordon Drive. Leighninger was lying in the middle of the road, unconscious but still breathing.
He was taken to Mercy Medical Center, but later died in the emergency room.
"I typically see quite a few people over the course of the day either walking up and down in the right of way areas, trying to cross the street, it's a four lane divided street and there's no cross walks," says Patrick Gill, from Revolver Electronic Cigarettes.
The closest crosswalk to the east is S. Martha, and to the west, Fairmount. So, if you live anywhere to the west of Hy-Vee, you actually have to walk past the grocery store in order to walk across a designated cross walk.
Between the two crosswalks there are three-quarters of a mile, loaded with fast food restaurants and businesses that aren't easily accessible without a car.
"I'm a runner myself, and I live about four blocks away from here and I usually run down Gordon drive and you know, I found myself, once in a while, maybe three or four times in the past few times, that I've ended up having to jaywalk, because there's really no good spot for it to cross the road," says Sean Lara, from Advance Auto Parts off Gordon Drive.
And he sees people regularly risking traffic to cross the street after dropping their cars off at a local tire shop.
"I've had to walk some parts over to Square Tire, and having to cross the road right there and with it being as busy as it is, you know, changing from a 45 mph road to a 35, a lot of people don't respect that, and a lot of them either speed up going into it, or not slowing down soon enough coming the other way," Lara says.
"Definitely do need some more sidewalks and an extra crosswalk here and there wouldn't hurt, definitely would make pedestrian crossing a little easier," says Gill.
Police say the accident is still under investigation. We tried getting in touch with Sioux City officials to talk about crosswalks on Gordon Drive, we left a few messages, but have yet to speak to anyone about the matter.
Hleigh@siouxlandnews.com
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