Friday — May 7, 2004

Pedestrian killed on Main Street in Hailey

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By MATT FURBER
Express Staff Writer

A California woman was killed when struck by a pickup truck Tuesday evening as she was crossing a main downtown intersection in Hailey.

Janice Louise Hawkins, 45 of Los Angeles, did not regained consciousness after being hit by the vehicle, said Hailey Police Chief Brian McNary. She was declared dead at St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center.

McNary said the accident occurred at about 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, May 4, as the pickup driver, Kenneth D. Martens, 25, of Bellevue, was making a left hand turn from Bullion Street to head north on Main Street.

McNary said Hawkins was crossing Main Street in the crosswalk, heading west toward Bullion Square. A traffic light controls the intersection, but there are no separate turn lanes.

Hawkins was transported to St. Luke’s by ambulance, McNary said.

Police said Martens submitted to a blood and urine screening, but officers do not suspect alcohol was involved in the accident. An investigation is still under way. Hailey police will submit a report to the county prosecutor.

Drivers are required to yield for pedestrians in Hailey.

"I can think of at least eight accidents where kids or adults have been struck at intersections in the last five years," McNary said. "We’re going to have to do something different."

Hailey City Councilman Rick Baird said he would like to see turn signals incorporated into the Bullion and Main Street traffic light. He said that the Idaho Department of Transportation has not been supportive of the idea.

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