2 people hit by car in downtown Austin, police looking for driver

Police looking for driver who hit two people in downtown Austin

On Saturday, July 16 around midnight, two people with the right-of-way entered the crosswalk at Lavaca and West Cesar Chavez Street in Downtown Austin. A dark four-door sedan turned left and hit the two people. The driver sped off.

AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin Police Department needs the public’s help finding a driver who hit and seriously injured two people in downtown Austin and drove off.

Both people who were hit were taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

Camera footage shows the same car going past the red light near 4th and Lavaca and just a block away on 4th and Colorado, the car swerved around a crowd of people crossing the road and almost hit a pedicab.

APD looking for suspect who hit two pedestrians in downtown Austin

Two people were struck by a dark four-door sedan just before midnight July 16 at the intersection of Lavaca and W. Cesar Chavez streets in downtown Austin, says APD.

"You can certainly see very serious injuries and even fatalities on low-speed surface streets. So downtown area, depending on how and where the person is struck," Austin-Travis County EMS PIO Captain Darren Noak said.

Statistics show the number of people being struck in Texas is going up.

"We have definitely seen a bit of an increase from last year for auto pedestrian incidents," Noak said.

TxDOT said pedestrian deaths now account for a fifth of traffic fatalities, and they happen for several reasons.

"Pedestrians not paying attention at intersections, not yielding the right of way of to other vehicles, or by crossing streets or highways not at crosswalks," TxDOT Austin District PIO Christopher Bishop said. "Likewise for the drivers, driver inattention, drivers failing to yield at crosswalks and intersections and failure to control speed."

Bishop said it takes everyone working together to get home safely at the end of the day.

If you have more information about the driver of the dark four-door sedan with possibly a disabled placard hanging from the window, call the Austin Police Department at 512-472-TIPS.