Man’s death points out pedestrian problems

By Elisa Glushefski

Published: March 13, 2008

Walking along and crossing busy roadways is a hazard homeless people like Norman Stanley Lewis face every day.

And it is how Lewis, known to some as just “Stan,“ lost his life.

The 50-year-old died at I nova Fairfax Hospital on Tuesday, almost a week after a 1997 Honda Civic struck him on Dale Boulevard in Dale City.

Prince William County police said Lewis was crossing the eastbound lanes near the Interstate 95 southbound on-ramp around 7:38 p.m. when the car struck him.

There was no crosswalk there, police said, and Lewis wasn’t wearing any reflective clothing.

“Dale Boulevard is a dangerous road for these guys to cross,“ said Bonnie Schrader, director of the church-run day program at the county’s winter shelter and drop-in center in Woodbridge. “There’s just a lot of traffic and a lot of people get hit there.“

A little more than two years ago, 43-year-old Agnes Dawkins was hit and killed when crossing Dale Boulevard near Gideon Road.

Both Lewis and Dawkins would go to the drop-in center to get some fresh clothes, clean up and have a hot meal.

Harold Hall, a member of the First Church of the Nazarene who volunteers at the drop-in center, described Lewis as an industrious person who did his best to hold down a job.

“[He was a] really likeable fella,“ Hall said by phone Thursday.

Although Hall said there are safer places to cross road than where Lewis did, he added that motorists often times drive at “highway speeds” on the on- and off-ramps and need to slow down in that area.

Capt. Tim Rudy said recently that some of the homeless camps were moved from the wooded area off Dale Boulevard, partly in response to the safety concerns the crash raised and partly because the property is state-owned.

“Usually we don’t bother the homeless people in those areas if they have permission and aren’t causing any social inconveniences,“ Rudy said. “But they didn’t have permission to be there.“

The dangers of crossing that section of the roadway was the top concern, though, he said.

“The main concern was their health and welfare,“ Rudy said. “We didn’t feel it was safe for them to be there.“

The Prince William County Police Department, along with other law enforcement agencies throughout the Washing-ton metropolitan area, will be conducting the “Street Smart” pedestrian safety campaign from Saturday to March 22.

The campaign, aimed at reducing traffic-related arrests and crashes, netted 442 traffic summonses, 138 warnings and 18 crash investigations, according to a police department news release.

During the last year’s campaign there were three injuries that resulted from traffic crashes, the news release states.

To reduce risks on the road, police recommend pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists to:

• Use crosswalk

• Obey traffic signal

• Look left-right-left before crossing a road

• Slow dow

• Stop for pedestrians.

Staff writer Elisa Glushefski can be reached at 703-878-8062.