Douglas County deputies are searching for the driver that hit a jogger and left them seriously injured and bleeding on University Boulevard this morning.

According to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, a walker spotted the jogger lying on the side of the road, bleeding. The jogger was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.

Deputies say the suspect vehicle is a red Toyota or Lexus with front end damage and missing its passenger side mirror. They have also concluded this was a hit-and-run accident.

Douglas County Sheriff's Office asks that you please call 911 immediately if you see this vehicle. If you have any information on the incident, contact Corporal Brian Cogil at 303-814-7076. 

Though it's not clear if the jogger was crossing the street or following along the road, it's always a good thing to be reminded of pedestrian rights-of-way laws in Colorado.

  • Drivers are legally obligated to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians when they are using crosswalks, when traffic signals are not in place, and/or when traffic signals are not functioning.
  • Drivers approaching a crosswalk are legally required to stop if other vehicles have stopped at the crosswalk for a pedestrian to cross.
  • Pedestrians have the right-of-way at intersections with stop signs or flashing red lights (which are to be treated like stop signs, by the way).

I can't tell you how many times I've almost been hit by drivers that, apparently, are not educated on the rules of the road (or just choose to ignore them). Crosswalks in front of mass merchants like Target, King Soopers, and Walmart are the worst.

I feel like some pedestrians are intimidated by cars (as they should be - ALWAYS be watching for oncoming traffic, because obviously not every driver pays attention to their surroundings), and are too afraid to take a stand. I've done this before - enter the crosswalk, extend my arm and make the "stop" hand signal, and proceed crossing the street. Drivers always speed off - fine. Let them throw a hissy fit. But it really bugs me to see drivers ignore laws that have been put in place to protect both pedestrians AND drivers, themselves.

And perhaps the jogger did not have the right-of-way - but we don't know what happened at the time of the accident, so it's not really fair to speculate. But if the jogger was breaking the law, he or she should also get up to date on pedestrian rights-of-way.

Those are just my 2 cents on pedestrians and drivers. What's your stance? Do irresponsible drivers or aloof pedestrians bug you more? 

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