James Joseph Christiano II Killed in Truck Accident in St. Petersburg, FL
St. Petersburg, FL -- December 31, 2022, James Christiano II was killed due to an accident where a Publix truck hit him in a crosswalk.
According to details in the news, the collision took place at around 6:15 p.m. in a crosswalk at the intersection of 5th Avenue North and 66th Street North. It was said that 29-year-old James Christiano II was on what was described in the news as an "adult tricycle" attempting to cross the intersection. He was reportedly in a crosswalk which had a green signal for pedestrians, sources say. While crossing, a semi-truck apparently operating for Publix hit Christiano, resulting in fatal injuries.
To be rather blunt, while I would need to see clear evidence to make concrete conclusions about what happened here, the initial details in the news are more than concerning. If signals said it was safe for pedestrians to cross, why did the truck driver turn? Were there some sort of extenuating circumstances that prevented them from seeing the victim? Is the news mistaken about the signals active at the time or the location of the vehicles involved? Was the truck driver on their phone or simply not paying attention to their surroundings? Would a more reasonably prudent professional driver have been able to avoid this awful event, or was the truck driver just in the wrong place at the wrong time?
At the end of the day, a young man did not make it home on this day, and his loved ones deserve to know why. Just because there aren't any current details about pending charges or arrests doesn't mean there isn't someone who needs to be held accountable here. Whether or not the proper steps are being taken to properly investigate this incident remains to be seen.
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