A pedestrian died beside Montgomery’s Atlanta Highway after being hit by a vehicle Tuesday night.
First responders were called to the 6400 block of Atlanta Highway around 7:15 p.m. A female pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the vehicle was not injured.
The identity of the deceased and additional details had not been released at the time of this report. Montgomery police continue to investigate the accident.
State Rep. Reed Ingram (R-Pike Road) has been an outspoken advocate for increased roadside safety. In 2023, Ingram carried a bill, HB 24, that was passed and signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey in May 2023. The bill makes it a misdemeanor to loiter beside a road. It does allow police the option of asking the loiterer to leave or to take the loiterer to a program for help, for instance, for homelessness, drug problems or mental health issues.
After WSFA TV12 News posted a story about the Tuesday pedestrian death, Ingram posted comments on their Facebook page.
Ingram stated in different posts as follows:
“If the mayor [Steven Reed] would enforce the law of people standing beside the road and asking for money, we would not be losing life like this. We have lost 5 lives because of this this year just in Montgomery."
“Now it is state law, and the bill has not been contested. It’s sad to lose so many lives. We have lost 14 lives since the bill was passed and it seems like Montgomery is the only one that’s not enforcing it."
“They closed the Salvation Army so they could build a waterpark. It seems like we would’ve had a solution to that problem before we kicked everybody out. It has been three years and they still don’t have a place to go.”
Ingram’s bill, now an act, subjects people to jail time if they get arrested for roadside loitering multiple times. The new act has not been challenged in court.
HB 24 makes a first arrest for roadside loitering a violation but makes a second or subsequent arrest a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by up to three months in jail and a $500 fine.
“It is a safety thing,” Ingram said. “It is not about homelessness at all. It is about protecting anybody that is on the street, a state highway with 60 mile-per-hour speed limits.”
“An officer has an option, if you read the bill, to take them to a shelter or wherever they need to be, whether it is mental health or what,” he added. “If they say they are homeless, they will take them to a shelter.”
Ingram said the City of Montgomery has not taken adequate steps to address homelessness. He says the city built a water park, which removed the Salvation Army facility being used for the homeless.
"Two proposed locations for a new Salvation Army homeless facility were blocked by the city after nearby residents objected," he wrote. "It has been three years since the Salvation Army facility was removed."
"In the last couple of weeks, there have been two major fires in abandoned buildings in Montgomery. It appears the fires were caused by homeless people living in the abandoned buildings. There could be further loss of lives if this problem is not addressed by the city," Ingram stated.
Jim ‘Zig’ Zeigler writes about Alabama’s people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at ZeiglerElderCare@yahoo.com.
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