A man was struck and killed by a vehicle Saturday while walking in the roadway on Moreland Avenue near Key Road in DeKalb County, according to police. Investigators say the man was not in a crosswalk when he was hit, and they’ve pointed to another factor that may have played a role: the area is poorly lit.
The crash was first reported by Atlanta News First, which cited DeKalb County police in confirming the location and the circumstances of the fatal collision. Police have not released the man’s identity, and the investigation into exactly how the crash unfolded remains ongoing, according to the outlet’s report. No further details on the vehicle involved or the driver have been made public.
A Corridor With a Troubled Recent History
This is not the first deadly pedestrian crash on Moreland Avenue this year. Just two months earlier, on June 1, a man in his 30s was struck and killed by two separate vehicles while walking in the right travel lane of Moreland Avenue near Conley Road, also in DeKalb County, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. Police said both drivers in that earlier crash stayed at the scene.
The stretch of roadway, officially known as State Route 42, has long carried a grim reputation. Moreland Avenue consistently ranks among the corridors on Atlanta’s High-Injury Network, a designation for the small share of city streets that account for the vast majority of severe and fatal crashes, according to transportation safety group Propel ATL. The group has repeatedly called for a systemic redesign of the corridor.
Key Road Intersection’s Long Record of Hazards
The specific intersection where Saturday’s crash happened has its own troubled past. In 2018, an auto repair shop at the corner of Moreland Avenue and Key Road reported being struck by vehicles more than half a dozen times, including one incident in which a driver crashed through concrete barriers into the shop amid reported street racing, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Shop owners at the time cited confusion over whether Atlanta or DeKalb police had jurisdiction over the corridor…