A pedestrian was struck and killed by a pickup truck early Friday on the westbound Santa Monica (10) Freeway just east of the Harbor (110) Freeway interchange in Los Angeles, triggering a two-hour SigAlert that snarled one of the region’s busiest commuter corridors before sunrise.
The crash was reported at 3:59 a.m., according to MyNewsLA.com. A California Highway Patrol spokesperson said the incident was initially reported as a vehicle striking a pedestrian, and the agency confirmed the collision involved a pickup truck. One person died in the crash, though details on the victim’s identity and the exact circumstances leading up to the collision were not immediately available.
The California Highway Patrol issued a SigAlert that closed lanes 2 and 3 of the westbound freeway, and the alert remained in effect until 6:32 a.m. A SigAlert is officially defined by CHP as any unplanned incident that shuts down at least one lane of traffic for 30 minutes or longer, a system first created in Los Angeles in 1955 by radio executive Loyd C. Sigmon, according to Snopes.
Why a Pedestrian Was on the Freeway Remains Unclear
It remains unknown why the pedestrian was on the freeway at that hour. Under California Vehicle Code Section 21960, pedestrians and non-motorized traffic are generally barred from designated freeways, though the law carries a specific exception allowing a driver or passenger of a disabled vehicle to walk to the nearest exit on their side of the highway to seek help or repairs, per Justia Law. Whether that exception applies here, or whether some other emergency put the victim on the roadway, has not been addressed by investigators…