RANDALLSTOWN, Md. — Special signage and flashing lights dot the length of Liberty Road, which has a history of fatal pedestrian crashes, yet the casualties continue to mount.
WATCH: Another life lost crossing Liberty Road
“There’s so much traffic going and coming, and people are speeding down here,” said Joyce Daniel of Randallstown, “They don’t stop. Yes. So it is hard. It’s a bad street.”
A bad street, which lived up to its name when a man identified by police as 60-year-old John Bates, Sr., attempted to cross Liberty Road at Old Court Road just before five o’clock in the morning on Tuesday, when a 2025 Hyundai Elantra struck him, causing injuries, which would ultimately cost him his life.
Police say initially the driver who struck the victim took off and left the scene, only to return a short time later.
The crash is still under investigation, so we don’t know who had the light or if the victim was in the crosswalk, but people who live in the area say, despite efforts to enhance safety here, there are no guarantees.
“Seeing people crossing on foot, I definitely look at them every night like, ‘That’s really dangerous’ or ‘Maybe you should look both ways’ or a lot of people don’t follow this cross light, so that does have a lot to do with it,” says Catherine Ware, who lives near the intersection where Bates was struck.
“I see a lot of police cars pulling people over a lot. Yes. I do see them there,” said Daniel, “but they do be speeding though, up and down this road. It’s dangerous.”
On Valentine’s Day of this year, 67-year-old Loretta Pretlow attempted to cross at a different point on Liberty Road at Milford Mill Road and suffered a similar fate.
