JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man died early Friday morning he was struck by a car while crossing Philips Highway near the Walmart store, just south of Emerson Street, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said.
Police said they were called at about 2:26 a.m. to a crash reported on Philips Highway near the Super Walmart, where a man had been hit by a car.
The man was taken to UF Health Jacksonville, where he died of his injuries, Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department said. The victim's name has not been released.
The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators, police said.
Nancy Yacino said she was driving home from work about 2:30 a.m. when she was flagged down and told that the man had been hit. Yacino tried to save the life of a man she had never met.
"I'm glad I try to help the guy. I did what I could. Unfortunately, he didn't make it," Yacino said. "The images in my head, I will never forget."
The crash blocked all southbound lanes of Philips Highway near Reba Avenue for nearly two hours while traffic homicide and crime scene detectives investigated.
During the day on Friday, News4Jax watched six people crossing Philips Highway within one hour. There are no crosswalks in the area, which has seen numerous crashes involving pedestrians -- some of them fatalities.
Dale Ranney, who works at Dallva Motors near where the crash happened, said he sees close-call crashes daily.
"There's a convenience store on one side, housing on the other and a trailer park. So there's a lot of pedestrian traffic going back and forth," Ranney said. "That's a big, big problem. Some of them are not paying attention to the oncoming speeds. If cars are going 70, you can misjudge the time to get across the road."
News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith looked at the stretch of road Friday and said the best solution to the problem would come with a large price tag.
"I think it would be very useful if they did have an overpass where people could walk over," Smith said. "I'm quite sure the fatality numbers would go down."
There are very few street lights between Emerson and University Boulevard. People in the area told News4Jax that the city should consider adding lights.