El Cajon Residents Demand Change After Fatal Crash

After a fatal pedestrian accident on a busy city street, El Cajon residents are asking for something to be done about the traffic.

A 57-year-old man was killed after being hit by at least two cars Thursday night while crossing a busy street between two controlled intersections. The accident is not the first for that area.

One resident who lives on the corner where the man died said it was bound to happen and will likely happen again if changes aren’t made.

“With the way people are flying up and down the street, you never know,” Bruce Ratcliff said. “It’s human nature. People want to do everything the quick way, the easy way, the convenient way.”

Ratcliff, who has lived there for three years, said he heard a thud and thought someone had hit his fence, which faces the busy street. He went outside to see an SUV and a body in the street behind it.

“Before I even got to the SUV, I could see he was gone,” Ratcliff said. “I mean, he looked like a mannequin laying on the ground. He was lifeless. He was still.”

Ratcliff said he spoke to the driver of the SUV, who was frantically texting someone and seemed shaken. He said she appeared sober, but in shock, standing in the dark street waiting for police.

“I couldn’t see anything except, you know, the injuries,” he said. “His head was split open and his face was down on the pavement…it appeared to be an older gentleman by his torso, but I couldn’t see his face at all.”

A former cop, Ratcliff said the gruesome scene didn’t faze him so much as it disappointed him.

“It didn’t shock me,” he said. “It’s just kind of disappointing that it keeps happening.”

Another long-time El Cajon resident, Eduardo Vazquez, echoed Ratcliff’s assessment of the problem.

“Maybe some better lighting on that street would help out,” Vazquez said. He also suggested a traffic light be put in near Renette Avenue to slow the drivers in the area.

Vazquez, who has lived in his El Cajon home since 1971, attributes a large part of the problem to the development of apartment buildings at both ends of the residential streets that meet with Avocado Street, where the accident happened.

“If you look down that street there, it’s all houses,” Vazquez said. “But at the end of the street is apartments. With more people, it can actually get more congested.”

When asked if he’s made complaints to the city about the traffic, he said yes; about that, and the road being repaved. His cries have thus far gone unanswered.

NBC 7 reached out to the El Cajon office of the California Highway Patrol and the city manager's office, asking if they plan to put speed bumps or more streetlights. They said they are still investigating.

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