Emergency personnel work on a pedestrian who was stuck in the crosswalk at the busy intersection of Peterson Drive and State Highway 8 in Moscow on Monday around noon. Courtesy David Johnson/Lewiston Morning Tribune

James Hazelton, a University of Idaho student, is in satisfactory condition after being struck by a car Monday while crossing Moscow-Pullman Highway by the Stinker Station.
Hazelton was in the crosswalk around noon when John Hunt, 85, of Pullman, struck him head on with his Dodge Intrepid. Hunt didn’t see him in the crosswalk, so the collision occurred at full speed, said Lt. Dave Lehmitz of the Moscow Police Department.

The collision caused severe damage to the car, including shattering the windshield. Hazelton was launched 65 feet down the road.
Authorities responded and he was taken to Gritman Medical Center. He broke a leg in the crash, and sustained several other injuries, Lehmitz said.
Hunt was charged with failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, an infraction that carries a $75 fine.

Hazelton was later transferred to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, said  a spokesperson for Gritman Medical Center.
A Sacred Heart spokesperson called his condition satisfactory and declined to offer any further comment.
Hunt was not injured in the crash.
“In order to charge him (Hunt) with more, you would have to prove intention on his part,” Lehmitz said.
That could come from operating the vehicle in a reckless manner, or being distracted by something in the vehicle.
Lehmitz said there was no evidence of any intention, nor was there any indication Hunt was speeding.

“We’ve had a lot of close calls there,” Lehmitz said. “It’s an uncontrolled intersection. Granted, there are caution lights, which means you have to stop, but this is only a cautionary step.”
Lehmitz said not all drivers see the cautionary lights, and it’s not safe to enter the crosswalk until the pedestrian knows for a fact all of the vehicles in each lane are planning on stopping.
Junior Tyler Tolmie has seen his fair share of close calls with the crosswalk. As a driver, more than once he has struggled to see a pedestrian crossing the crosswalk, as he said they are difficult to see when there isn’t very much traffic.

“It’s easier when there’s a lot of traffic, since all of the cars stop,” Tolmie said.
He has always had time to stop when it’s gotten close.
“The drivers need to be more aware,” he said. “A blinking yellow light isn’t enough.”
Twenty minutes after the crash, the road was up and running again and a wrecker towed Hunt’s Intrepid away from the scene, Lehmitz said.
On Tuesday, there was a second car accident when junior Andrea Hasenoehrl was struck by a truck driven by 21-year-old Justin Kempf at the intersection of A and Baker.
Hasenoehrl was transported to Gritman by ambulance with abrasions and complaining of back pain.

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