Two pedestrians struck while trying to cross 680 after crash
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - Two people suffered life-threatening injuries when a car hit them as they tried to run across Interstate Highway 680 in Walnut Creek this morning after a fender-bender, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The man and woman were driving south in a silver Honda Accord on Highway 680 near Ygnacio Valley Road when they rear-ended another car at about 8:15 a.m., CHP Officer Brandon Correia said.
No injuries were reported and both cars pulled into the center median, ostensibly to exchange insurance and contact information.
However, as soon as one of the people in the rear-ended car started to call 911, both of the people from the Accord jumped the center divider and tried to run across the northbound lanes, Correia said.
They only got past the fast lane before someone driving a maroon Hyundai Sonata hit them, knocking both of them across two lanes of traffic, all the way to the right-hand shoulder, according to Correia.
They were taken to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek with major injuries.
The incident resulted in the closure of the far right northbound lane of Highway 680 near the Ygnacio Valley Road off-ramp and caused traffic delays in both directions for about an hour, Correia said.
"This is what you call a preventable collision," Correia said.