Natomas pedestrian death is Sacramento County's 97th traffic fatality so far this year
The Sacramento County coroner has identified the 19-year-old man killed by an alleged drunk driver while he was standing at a bus stop as Ricky Rey Reyes, Jr.
The driver drove into the sidewalk and hit Reyes at the bus stop on Del Paso and El Centro roads in the North Natomas area.
An online fundraiser featured photos of Reyes and described him as a young man dedicated to service at the Sacramento National Guard Base. The page said he was at the bus stop after taking a tour at a local trade school.
James Thomas takes the same bus line, where flowers now mark the spot where Reyes was killed in this latest pedestrian loss of life on a Sacramento street.
"That could have been me," Thomas said. "It makes me sad, so much potential."
Sacramento County tracks motor vehicle deaths and reports the count is nearing 100 for the year. Reyes' death makes 97.
Isaac Gonzalez is the founder of Slow Down Sacramento and created a map using coroner data, showing the locations of all the deadly crashes in the county from January to July, listing victims as pedestrians, drivers, or passengers.
"It's absolutely heartbreaking," Gonzalez said. "And the data is pretty eye-opening. It shows you that it's a systemic problem across our county but also that there's clusters, so there are specific areas where we are seeing multiple fatalities."
The Sacramento city council just approved funding for safety enhancements to one of its deadliest corridors - on Broadway between Stockton Blvd. and Martin Luther King, Jr Blvd. The 'vision zero' project is aimed at zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2027. It will reduce lanes for motor vehicles and add buffered lanes for bicyclists.
The City of Sacramento Public Works Department now investigates deadly crash sites to see if the environment at a crash scene needs to be changed.
Reyes was also an employee of the Corti Brothers deli in east Sacramento. He was set to turn 20 years old in just eight days.
The city's law and legislation committee did consider declaring pedestrian deaths a state of emergency last year. The city ultimately never made the declaration.