‘He literally came out of nowhere…dressed all in black’–Driver Describes Hitting Man Near Fortuna Saturday Night
Stock photo of emergency lights
The driver of a northbound vehicle that struck a man on Hwy 101 north of the 12th Street onramp from Fortuna late Saturday night described the terrible collision to us by phone.
The man told us that he had taken his wife to the Redwood Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Room because “she was super sick.” He told us that at about 10:45 p.m. he picked her up, got some fast food, and headed north on Hwy 101 from the 12th Street onramp roughly around 11:15 p.m.
A little north of there, a man appeared on the road. “He literally came out of nowhere…dressed all in black,” the driver told us. “With the rain and everything and him being dressed in all black” he just seemed to appear suddenly, the driver explained.
“He had to have seen the headlights coming and he didn’t even move,” the driver explained. “I slammed on my brake as hard as I could. My car started sliding and hit… .” Here he paused, then seemed to force himself to continue. “As soon as I made impact, all the airbags exploded. I lost control and I hit the barricade.”
The driver’s side of the man’s Durango was smashed so his wife got out first and “called the police.” He crawled out her side of the vehicle as she explained to an emergency operator that they had hit a bicyclist–though later they came to believe the man must have been on foot.
Another person drove up right after the crash and went down to check on the person who had been hit and thrown down an embankment. “I stayed with my wife and comforted her because she was pretty shook up,” the driver told us.
“When the paramedics arrived, they said he was unconscious and he had no pulse,” the driver explained and added that that emergency personnel began doing CPR immediately and an ambulance took the man who had been hit away.
“They [law enforcement] made me take a drunk test,” the driver said. “I passed.”
The words kept tumbling out of him. “There was no bicycle to be found,” the driver said. “He had to be on foot.”
His voice rough on the phone he added, “I don’t know if he alive or not. All I care about is I want him to be okay…It was hard to sleep last night, that’s for sure. I just hope everything is okay…My wife keeps saying, It is all her fault.”
The driver told us that he tries to comfort her and tells her he was driving so if anyone was at fault, it was him.
When asked about his vehicle, he told us, “My whole car is totaled. But you can get another car. I just hope he’s okay.”
Earlier: A Bicyclist Received Serious Injuries After a Vehicle Struck Them Near Fortuna (Please note the earlier version has some errors caused by incomplete information the day of the accident that have been corrected in this version)
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I hit a dog new years eve on central Ave in mckinleyville. Same thing, just appeared all of a sudden on the darkest part of the road, I had about 20ft to react. She was literally sitting down… luckily she had a tag and the owners came within 10 minutes. Definitely broke a leg or two but I feel for this guy. Sounds like the guy may have been trying to get hit if he was in the middle of the highway. Hope he’s OK and gets a mental health check
More than likely correct. These people try and commit suicide by car. It’s the same thing that happens between Humboldt Hill and Herrick Ave frequently. I’m sorry these 2 had to be part of this person problems…. I nearly hit a guy on a bike that just turned straight into traffic on 299 just weeks ago, luckily I was able to nearly miss him, but it was dark and obvious in his part what his plan was.
It wasn’t a suicide attempt.
We lost a dear loved one and people comment on this as if it was intentional. We are mourning and people comment making ASSUMPTIONS as if they knew intentions. It was an accident. Purely an accident. We pray for the couple and their family as we have lost one of ours too.
I am so sorry for your loss.
🙏💐Heartfelt condolences and prayers. I’m so sorry for your loss. So very sorry.
I’m sorry for your loss. Please ignore those ill thought out comments by anons.
I don’t think they are trying to comment as if intentional, however they are just really confused as to why he was just in the middle of the roadway. I’m truly sorry for your loss as well . I also feel for the driver and his wife as the guilt can be a demon in its own. Again I’m sorry we should all try and see both sides before jumping to our own assumptions.
No one really knows why it happened. All we know is that a loved one has left the family and his close friends and everyone needs to be considerate with their comments.
Tragic story.
If only people would wear brighter colors when walking or bicycling near the highway… especially at night or in bad weather…
Staying out of the lanes of traffic and seeking help(for their thoughts) are other options for people…..
How many drivers have reflective vests in their cars to put on when they’re crossing the street from a parking space or if their car breaks down on the highway?
How many of the people stick by vehicles at night were broken down on the highway? You dont need a reflective vest to cross the street after parking, you just have to look both ways.
I bought several on the cheap at an estate sale and put one in all my vehicles.
Quite a few years back, as we were headed home from Garberville to McKinleyville, a man stepped into our headlights from nowhere just south of Redcrest. We weren’t going faster than 55 because the fog was so incredibly thick. My husband swerved just a little to miss the man, who made no effort to change course. I still think that person didn’t care whether they lived or died. We were shaken and we didn’t even hit anyone. My sympathies to the victim and the couple in the car.
Dont feel too bad… Things happen sometimes, but it doesn’t sound like you did anything wrong. Blessings to the dead and to their family.
Who’s the victim, driver or pedestrian?
Both
Both.
Your post is an example of binary thinking. You need not perceive life as “either/or”. All three people were and are victims.
How traumatic for all parties involved.
I was kidnapped once by a man wearing a staff vest at some event north of Laytonville. He said he would take me back to my car in Laytonville and didn’t. He went the opposite direction.
I jumped out of his black Dodge Durango underneath an overpass near Rio Dell. He stopped to do something and beat his dog, the other passenger disappeared. So I bailed. About 13ish years ago.
I walked the dark highway all night until morning when I could safely hitchhike the rest of the way back to my car.
Thank you ma’am for stopping, I must’ve been a sight! You were a Godsend. I was a mess.
The highway was dark and scary. I couldn’t even see where I was walking it was SO dark.
I had nothing but a dead cell phone,a near dead Bic lighter, and a prayer! ( Thank You Jesus! ) It’s a miracle I survived that and that I wasn’t hit by a motorist. But it wouldn’t have been their fault if they would have hit me.
You never know what you’re gonna run into out there.
🙏 Prayers for all involved.
loved your post! Bless up
Ahh, a Jamaican fellow. Welcome.
🤗Thank you. God bless you….🌹
I worry about this every day on my way to work. I leave my house at 3am and have had some many close calls from either people walking on the highway, darting across the highway and a couple times just standing in the middle of the highway. Broadway is the worst at this time of the morning as well. To many times I’ve had people just step into the road when I know damn well they see a vehicle approaching. I feel bad for both parties involved but feel it’s the person who got hit fault.
My husband and I went grocery shopping in Eureka and stopped for gas at bear river, when we were getting back on the freeway we were literally talking about how there are no lights and trees . You can’t see with the rain and fog . So sad for everyone involved
Lol that’s the counties place to put them lights up and what not!! Not ours… but I do agree with u, it’s dark as hell up here!
You and your wife are heroes. Thank you for your courageous response to this horrible event. If you need counseling and would like help exploring your options, perhaps one of RHBB’s readers will offer suitable personal guidance. You and your wife are wonderful human beings.
We are all heroes and survivors…every single one of us, until we aren’t. Then we are free from this mortal coil
If we are all heros and survivors then both of the terms are useless.
So sad for all parties involved. Prayers for everyone🙏🙏🙏
I’ve had people dressed in dark clothing step out in front of me while driving at night as well, both here and out of town where I work. Sometimes, I swear it’s a deliberate action on the pedestrian’s part… how could they not see a vehicle with headlights coming at them? As for people on the freeway, I wish the CHP and the Sheriff’s Dept would do more to keep them off the highway. I think this area is about the only place in California where pedestrians and bicycles are allowed on the freeways and I don’t understand it. And yeah, I know the Bike Nazis will probably attack me, but really, they don’t belong on the freeway.
Well, when the only way to Humboldt Hill from either direction is by freeway, that’s the only option.
No longer true. You can bike or walk on the new trail that now goes from the west side of the Humboldt Hill overpass parking lot. The new trail parallels the old rail line and is paved all the way. You can use it to connect to the Hikshari Trail at the Herrick Street parking lot.
At least from the north the Hikshari’ Trail goes all the way to Tooby Rd.now.
Your very right… many other places people are not allowed to ride their bikes, much less walk on the highway… my son was picked up by Chp when he was 16 because “it’s against the law”, I had take him to court smh
Bike Nazis??
Most bike riders would agree with you that they don’t belong on the freeway, but there aren’t a lot of options to get around without a car. That’s why they keep asking for safe infrastructure. Heck, you should be advocating for it too, to get those pesky bikes off your roads.
I ride a bike and I second this comment. Even if it is legal to ride on the shoulder in Humboldt I can’t see doing it unless there were no other options. For some, there might not be. We need better safer pedestrian/bike routes between towns.
Not a freeway but a limited access hi way with different rules and regulations I believe.
People need to understand the difference between a freeway (grade separated, on and off ramps, etc) and a highway (any state-owned road). You don’t get to drive like it’s a freeway just because it is a state owned road – hence the “begin freeway” and “end freeway” signs.
Thing is there is a lack of alternative facilities for people who are, for whatever reason, biking or hiking between towns – Hikshari essentially ends at Herrick if you’re trying to get to Fields Landing, Humboldt Hill, CR, etc. If there are no alternative facilities, you’re allowed to ride on the freeway. Once the various trails are built, there will be an alternative facility for bicyclists and pedestrians to use.
Good thing he didn’t smoke a joint or have a beer that afternoon, would be an even worse ending.
Yes, then it probably would have been a hit and run like so many others in the area.
So did the person survive?
A commenter above says that he did not.
Any update on who was the individual that was hit?
I try not to drive in the dark anymore. Wish the bus service between Arcata and Eureka and Fortuna ran later. If I want to do something in Eureka and take the bus, I can’t stay later than 8:30 p.m. in order to get a bus back home. The public transit system must be improved.
They need more people to ride it in order to justify adding service. Too many people here are prejudiced against even trying it.
I do not ride the bus specifically because I rode it 4 days a week for 2 years. It was horrible. I had a guy sit down next to me and proceed to put some drug (white substance) into a glass pipe and he was about to light it when I told him that wasn’t going to fly. Another time I had a person get on a light up a cigarette. Once myself and multiple other passengers had to call the police because our bus driver was drunk.(they could have been having a medical issue I didn’t stick around to find out)
All that aside, I would never ride the bus again without a tight fitting N95 to prevent cold/flu/covid, and a taser.
How many car drivers do you think are drunk or on drugs at any given time? Far more fatal car vs car crashes here that you should be worried about. I’ve $oubd bus drivers here to be swift in kicking people off the bus for misbehaving.
Everyone posting here: What color is the coat you wear? Would you describe it as dark? How about the pants you wear? Are they dark, too?
Right – how many have reflective trim sewn onto their jackets?
If I expectd to be walking along the freeway at night, I would wear one of my brightly colored ones.
what if you didnt expect to be on the freeway???
Funny you should ask. I wore dark grey pants, a black hoodie, black shoes, and a black beanie to Costco today!😂🤣😂
This is one of every driver’s worst fears. Sending sympathy and best wishes for recovery to everyone involved.
I hope everyone survives this.
As for people not seeing cars coming at them, the only thing I can think of is, when there’s no ambient light, just pitch black and all you see are these spots of light, it can be hard to judge exactly where they are and how fast they’re moving. Add some impairment, chemical or other, and you unintentionally walk in front of a moving vehicle.
Sometimes I think people may be deciding to risk it when they see a car with its lights on because they believe they can judge how fast it’s moving, vs the risk that seeing no headlights is actually a car driving without lights on that they can’t see.
I’m just saying if u didn’t know the person that got hurt I wouldn’t be assuming anything , I don’t understand how they say he came out of nowhere and then say they saw him on a bike makes no sense. He was on the side of the road like no mater if he was wearing black or white the drives was not paying attention to where he was going.
There is a giant homeless encampment between kenmar and 12 th heading north on the 101 people crossing the freeway at all hours
Death is always tragic…There was a large warming fire tonight under the 12th Street overpass tonight, so the zombies are out there.
One less zombie from the river camps that are the cause of the county blocking river access for fishermen.
Grow a heart.
He was not a zombie at all. He had a job with a good company and was an awesome dude.
I was leaving the Mall a couple of weeks ago, and was sitting at a STOP sign, trying to turn right. I was watching traffic coming from the left. Luckily, I looked right before turning because a guy stepped in to the crosswalk in front of me, dressed in dark clothes, didn’t even pause to make sure I had seen him. I know it would have been my fault, and I would have felt bad, but attention to traffic is important too.
So he was using the marked crosswalk like he was supposed to, and you weren’t paying attention. How would it have made a difference what color he was wearing if you didn’t look in that direction ?
Pedestirans are supposed to stop at the crosswalk and attempt to make eye contact with the driver. It is in the law.
No. Making eye contact is a good idea, even though drivers sometimes *still* don’t see you, but the law is that when you’re in a motorized vehicle and you come to a stop, LOOK BOTH WAYS before proceeding. That’s the law.
That’s not “in the law” at all and you should have your license taken away because you don’t actually know the law.
Lots of drivers avoid making eye contact with pedestrians when we try to cross the street, maybe we should start egging their cars instead!
A guy on a bike died on Broadway just exactly like that.
I was nearly hit by a giant pickup that way, except I was halfway across T St. at 4th in Eureka when the driver roared to the stop sign two feet in front of me. Once my heart started again, I stood there for a couple of minutes and watched him stare right for an opening in traffic. He found one and made his left turn onto 4th, never once glancing in my direction.
Please look in both directions when you stop, even on a one-way street; the life you save may be mine.
Yes, attention to traffic is not only important, but essential. All these people saying what’s “right” about the pedestrian’s freedom to walk anytime through a crosswalk without heed of surrounding traffic… yes, they may be right, and he may be right; but he may end up “dead right.” I’d rather be alive, so i look around.
There’s the ideal, about which we argue here. Then there’s the real. And nothing’s as real as a half-ton of steel.
Funny, I end up waiting for up to five minutes to cross at a marked crosswalk while people driving with ample stopping distance fail to yield. None of us are saying people can just “walk out in to traffic without looking”, we’re saying we do have a right to cross the street.
I nearly hit a guy on 7th Street in Downtown San Francisco while driving a Golden Gate Transit Bus a long time ago. The guy literally stepped out in front of my bus, opened his arms out, and I was able to make a FULL stop without hitting him. It was definitely intentional.
The going rate for being hit by a bus is about $2 Million Dollars.
Can you imagine, a victim going before a Judge, and be like; “$2 Million your Honor”
lol
I love fast food when I’m really sick
Yes, it’s good comfort food…
Sometimes you don’t feel much like cooking.
We almost hit a dog the other night on Broadway headed towards the mall… My boyfriend slammed on the brakes he looked scared he paused for a minute then continued on! We were in the passing lane, so there was another car I watched as he crossed! He looked so scared! It was a boxer too! 😰
Had to have been the same person I saw one 101 near the Main Street exit a couple weeks ago it was around 10pm out of nowhere there was person in all black just standing in the middle of highway I was lucky enough to miss the person and just hadn’t thought about it