Pauline Juro Killed in Auto-Pedestrian Accident on I-35 in Austin, TX
UPDATE (May 10, 2022): Reports have identified the victim of this crash as 42-year-old Pauline Juro. Juro was reportedly trying to cross eastward through the lanes of the interstate when she was fatally struck by a vehicle. It's unclear if the driver remained at the scene after the crash.
Austin, TX -- April 28, 2022, one person was killed in an early-morning auto-pedestrian accident on South Interstate 35 in Austin.
Authorities say the incident happened around 2:00 a.m. on the 4500 block of northbound I-35 near William Cannon Drive and Ben White Boulevard. The specifics of the crash aren't yet known, but reports say it involved one or more vehicles that hit a pedestrian on the freeway. It's unclear from reports whether any of the vehicles remained at the scene after the collision.
The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene. One other person was reportedly evaluated at the scene but refused treatment.
No further information is currently available.
Commentary on Pauline Juro Accident on I-35 in Austin
There isn't much information about what happened here, though folks also tend to write off incidents where pedestrians are hit on the interstate. The assumption tends to be that someone on foot in the highway is more or less automatically in the wrong.
Pedestrian activity on a busy thruway can be risky, but fault is never automatic like that. Rather than dismissing the whole thing because of where it took place it's important to consider the greater context of the accident. How did it happen, and could anything out of the ordinary have contributed to it?
For instance, are there any lights in that area at night? Where exactly was the victim in relation to the roadway at the time? Were they wearing anything light-colored or reflective? Were the car's headlights on? Was the driver's full attention on the road? If not, why not? Were other drivers able to successfully avoid the victim? Where did the pedestrian come from before entering the roadway that night? Could anything else have been done to avoid the collision or reduce its damage? Can the other person involved who refused treatment shed any light on how they came to be there and what exactly happened?
I don't ask those questions to overcomplicate things or point fingers. I just don't think anyone can safely assume there's nothing else to know here. Every available answer is important when trying to learn how someone lost their life. Their loved ones deserve to know no stone was left unturned when trying to make sense of a terrible event.
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