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National Transportation Safety Board

Washington, DC 20594

Highway Accident Brief

Fatal Pedestrian Collision with Car

Washington, DC, August 18, 2016

Accident Number: HWY16SH023

Accident Type: Fatal pedestrian collision with car

Location: 9th Street and P Street NW, Washington, DC

Date and Time: August 18, 2016, about 2:20 a.m. eastern daylight time

Vehicle: 2000 Mercedes-Benz CLK 320

Driver: 31-year-old female

Pedestrian: 44-year-old male

Fatalities: 1

Crash Description

On Thursday, August 18, 2016, about 2:20 a.m., a 2000 Mercedes-Benz CLK 320 coupe

was traveling south on 9th Street NW in Washington, DC. As the 31-year-old driver approached 

the intersection of 9th and P streets, the traffic signal for southbound vehicular traffic was green. 

A 44-year-old male, walking with a female companion, attempted to cross 9th Street from the 

southeast corner of the intersection (figure 1). Neither pedestrian was in the crosswalk. 

The driver reported that she saw the pedestrians in the roadway and attempted to steer left 

to avoid them. The car struck the male pedestrian at the right-side bumper area, causing him to 

ride up onto the hood and propelling him into the windshield on the passenger side. The pedestrian 

rolled off the right side of the car and came to rest in the roadway. He was transported to MedStar 

Washington Hospital Center, where he died of his injuries. The female pedestrian was not injured. 

It was dark at the time of the crash, and the sky was overcast. The temperature at the time 

was 75°F, and the wind was from the west-southwest at 3 mph.1

 

1 Weather data from https://www.wunderground.com/history/.
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Figure 1. Diagram of crash scene showing path of vehicle, path of pedestrian, location of traffic 

control signals and construction fencing on sidewalk and street, location where pedestrian collided 

with car, and pedestrian’s and car’s final rest positions.

Crash Location

Ninth Street is an urban collector roadway that connects residential and commercial areas 

to major arterial roadways and provides access to downtown Washington, DC, as well as to 

Interstate 395. The six-lane asphalt roadway has a double yellow line dividing the northbound and 

southbound lanes, with two travel lanes in each direction and a dedicated parking lane on each 

side. The posted speed limit is 25 mph.

The area around the intersection is both commercial and residential (figure 2). At the time 

of the crash, a large multistory building was under construction on the southeast corner of the 
Fatal Pedestrian Collision with Car, Washington, DC, August 18, 2016

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intersection, and fencing blocked the sidewalk and the parking lane on the east side of 9th Street.

The other sidewalks around the intersection were unobstructed.

Figure 2. Aerial view of crash location showing crosswalks at intersection and building under 

construction on southeast corner. (Base photo from District of Columbia geographic information 

system)

Traffic signals control the movement of pedestrians and vehicles through the intersection, 

with pedestrian phases built into the signals. According to the records of the District of Columbia 

Department of Transportation, the traffic signals had last undergone routine maintenance in 

February 2016. The last problem reported for the signals was in July 2016, when they were found 

to be “in flash.”2 The signals were repaired by the time of the crash. Pedestrian crosswalks at the 

intersection are well-marked. High-intensity streetlights on each corner were operational at the 

time of the crash. The west side of the street has no streetlights, which results in slightly less 

illumination on that side.

 

2 When traffic signals malfunction, they either flash red-red in all directions to create a four-way stop, as at this 

intersection, or they flash red-yellow for the main direction of travel and red-red for secondary roads.
Fatal Pedestrian Collision with Car, Washington, DC, August 18, 2016

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Pedestrian

The male pedestrian was the proprietor of an establishment on the northeast corner of the 

intersection. The female pedestrian told the Metropolitan Police Department, District of Columbia, 

that the male pedestrian had left the establishment to walk her to her vehicle, which was parked on 

the west side of 9th Street, just south of the intersection. He was wearing dark clothes. The female 

pedestrian told police that the male pedestrian was not using a cell phone at the time of the crash, 

and no cell phone was recovered at the scene.

According to his family, the pedestrian was in good health and not under a doctor’s care.

The District of Columbia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner performed an autopsy and 

toxicological tests. Information gathered as part of the autopsy indicated that the pedestrian had 

no significant medical history and did not take medication. His height was recorded as 5 feet 

11 inches and his weight as 333 pounds.3 The impact with the car caused multiple blunt force 

trauma to his body, including a lacerated liver, a compound fracture of the lower right leg, a deep 

laceration to the abdomen, and abrasions, lacerations, and contusions to the right side of the body,

consistent with sliding along the pavement. The autopsy report stated that the cause of death was 

massive blunt-impact injuries. According to the toxicological tests, at the time of the crash, the 

pedestrian had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.10.4 Results were negative for other 

drugs.

Driver

The driver of the crash car held a standard driver’s license issued by Virginia.5 She had no 

restrictions on her driving privilege. However, she had an extensive driving record that included

multiple violations: failure to pay full time and attention, speeding, disobeying a highway sign,

and a conviction for operating a vehicle while impaired that was adjudicated in the District of 

Columbia in April 2014.

6

When questioned by police about her movements before the collision, the driver said that 

she had just left a nightclub/bar about a mile from the crash scene. She stated that she arrived at 

the establishment about 9:30 p.m. and stayed until it closed at 2:00 a.m. She reported that during 

that period, she ingested a beer and several glasses of whiskey. She stated that before the collision, 

she was traveling home and was using her cell phone to obtain directions back to Reston, Virginia. 

She said that a light rain was falling and that her windshield had fogged up. When she turned on 

her windshield wipers, she saw the two pedestrians in the roadway. She said that the traffic signal 

was green for southbound vehicular traffic on 9th Street when she collided with the pedestrian. 

 

3 Pedestrian characteristics, such as height and weight, were documented to aid crash reconstruction and evaluate 

pedestrian injuries.

4 Research has shown that even low levels of alcohol can affect cognitive performance. At BACs above 0.10, 

individuals suffer impaired motor coordination, vision, hearing, and balance. Their reaction times are slower, and 

judgment and perception are impaired (Linda Dultz and Spiros Frangos, “The Impact of Alcohol in Pedestrian 

Trauma,” Journal of Injury, Infection, Trauma and Critical Care [2012]: 1252–1257).

5 Standard (noncommercial) driver’s licenses in Virginia issued before July 1, 2016, did not carry a class 

designation.

6

“Failure to pay full time and attention” is a citation that generally covers distracted driving. 
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In a postcrash breath test, the driver’s BAC measured 0.09 grams per deciliter. The driver’s 

urine tested positive for alcohol, benzoylecgonine (a metabolite of cocaine), MDMA (also known 

as Ecstasy or Molly), and MDA (a metabolite of MDMA; also known as Sally). MDMA and MDA 

are synthetic stimulants and psychedelic drugs. Their effects on the human body include euphoria, 

a heightened sense of well-being, and overconfidence, as well as rapid heart rate, confusion, 

anxiety, dizziness, and blurred vision. The effects typically last a few hours, but evidence of drug 

use can be found in urine for several days thereafter.

No blood sample was taken to establish which drugs were affecting the driver at the time 

of the collision, and the driver was not evaluated for potential drug-related impairment at the time. 

The available evidence was therefore insufficient to determine whether the driver was impaired by 

drugs other than alcohol.

Vehicle

The 2000 Mercedes-Benz CLK 320 coupe was equipped with frontal air bags for both the 

driver and the front-seat passenger. The air bags did not deploy in the collision. The vehicle’s air

bag control module was downloaded after the crash but did not capture any crash-related data.

The car’s left front head lamp was out and had been out before the crash. Damage to the 

vehicle included scratch marks on the right front bumper and right side of the hood and a smashed 

right windshield (figure 3). No mechanical defects were discovered after the crash. 

Figure 3. Crash car parked on 9th Street NW after collision. Note damage to windshield. (Source: 

Metropolitan Police Department, District of Columbia)
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Applicable Traffic Laws

Title 18, chapter 23 of the District of Columbia municipal regulations regulates the 

movements of pedestrians on the roadway and establishes the right-of-way between pedestrians 

and vehicles:

2303.2 No pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb, safety zone, loading platform or other 

designated place of safety and walk or turn into the path of a vehicle which is so close as 

to make it impossible for the driver to yield. 

2304.1 Between adjacent intersections controlled by traffic control signal devices or by 

police officers, pedestrians shall not cross the roadway at any place except in a crosswalk.

2304.2 Each pedestrian crossing a roadway at any point other than within a marked 

crosswalk, or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, shall yield the right-of-way 

to all vehicles upon the roadway.

2304.3 No pedestrian shall cross a roadway at any place other than by a route at right angles 

to the curb or by the shortest route to the opposite curb, except in a crosswalk.

Title 50, section 2201.28 requires drivers to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians in “any 

marked crosswalk, or unmarked crosswalk at an intersection.” Under Title 50, section 2206.11,

drivers are prohibited from driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs.

Title 18, section 704.1 requires that “each motor vehicle other than a motorcycle shall be 

equipped with at least two (2) head lamps which shall comply with the requirements and 

limitations set forth in this chapter.” At least one head lamp is required on each side of the front 

of a vehicle, at a specified distance from the ground.

Probable Cause

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the crash 

in Washington, DC, was the pedestrian’s decision to cross the street outside the crosswalk and 

against the traffic signal. Contributing to his poor decision-making was alcohol impairment. 

Further contributing to the crash was the driver’s impairment from alcohol, which most likely 

diminished her ability to detect and avoid the pedestrian. 

BY THE NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD

ROBERT L. SUMWALT, III EARL F. WEENER 

Chairman Member

BRUCE LANDSBERG T. BELLA DINH-ZARR

Vice Chairman Member

JENNIFER HOMENDY

Member

Adopted: September 24, 2018
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For more details about this accident, visit the NTSB public docket and search for NTSB 

accident ID HWY16SH023. The accident dockets include such information as police reports, 

photographs, driver and witness statements, data on previous crashes, highway engineering 

reports, and timing of traffic signals. 

The NTSB does not assign fault or blame for an accident or incident; rather, as specified 

by NTSB regulation, “accident/incident investigations are fact-finding proceedings with no formal 

issues and no adverse parties . . . and are not conducted for the purpose of determining the rights 

or liabilities of any person.” 49 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 831.4. Assignment of fault 

or legal liability is not relevant to the NTSB’s statutory mission to improve transportation safety 

by investigating accidents and incidents and issuing safety recommendations. In addition, statutory 

language prohibits the admission into evidence or use of any part of an NTSB report related to an 

accident in a civil action for damages resulting from a matter mentioned in the report. 49 United 

States Code, Section 1154(b).