A car struck an 80-year-old man in front of Chase Bank at Pacific Coast Highway and Bolsa in Seal Beach on Friday morning, Jan. 29. The pedestrian died at the hospital.
The driver was interviewed and released.
According to the Seal Beach Police Department dispatch log, a caller reported the accident at 5:49 a.m. The caller apparently hit the man in the crosswalk. The pedestrian stopped breathing at 5:51 a.m., according to the log.
According to a SBPD statement issued later that day, officers at the scene found that a car had struck a pedestrian and that he was critically injured.
Police officers immediately closed part of Pacific Coast Highway to traffic.
At 6:30 a.m., the pedestrian’s death was confirmed and noted in the dispatch log.
Eastbound and westbound traffic was detoured from Pacific Coast Highway for several hours Friday. Traffic on Bolsa was rerouted into the Chase parking lot. Northbound traffic on Main Street was blocked off from Electric to PCH. (Main Street becomes Bolsa north of PCH.) Traffic on Electric Avenue was unusually heavy because of the detour.
The investigation is being conducted by the Serious Traffic Accident Review Team. The team consists of traffic investigators from the Seal Beach, Los Alamitos and Cypress Police departments.
The SBPD is asking any witnesses to the collision to contact the Watch Commander at (562) 799-4100, extension 1115.
On Feb. 9, 2009, Seal Beach Police Chief Jeff Kirkpatrick told the City Council that 11 people had died in Seal Beach traffic accidents since 2003. The 2009 Kirkpatrick report said four of those fatalities were on Pacific Coast Highway.
Fatal traffic accidents represent less than one percent of the total collisions in Seal Beach. There were a total of 1,742 collisions in Seal Beach from 2003 to 2008. Of those, 971 resulted in injuries and 11 resulted in deaths.
