Video Captured by Traffic Camera

Claim:   Video shows a car striking another vehicle in an intersection, sending the second car careening into a pedestrian.

Status:   True.

Example:   [Collected via e-mail, July 2007]

Origins:   It's a chilling scene: a video clip shows a vehicle as it speeds through an intersection and runs broadside into another car; a pedestrian crossing the street breaks into a run to run to get out of the way of the out-of-control vehicles, but the struck car rolls on top of him. The video is all the more chilling because it isn't a scene from a
movie, nor is it the product of special effects wizardry — it's the real thing, captured by a red-light enforcement camera.

The accident seen in the video occurred at 12:40 p.m. on 23 May 2004 at the intersection of Third Street and

Edwin C. Moses Boulevard in Dayton, Ohio. Betty J. Hayslip, 75, of New Lebanon, driving a PT
Cruiser, ran a red light and struck a Subaru driven by Albertina L. Walker, 41, of Dayton. The collision caused the Subaru to roll over one and a half times; it came to rest upside-down and in the process crashed into pedestrian Scott Tegtmeyer, 42, of Dayton.

Tegtmeyer, who was crossing the street in the same direction as the PT Cruiser and had just reached the curb on the opposite side, can be seen in the video breaking into a desperate run as the collided vehicles bear down on him. He could not react quickly enough, however, and the Subaru rolled atop of him, dragging him several feet across the intersection. Although medics who found Tegtmeyer's bloodied body amidst a sea of broken glass initially pronounced him dead at the scene, he began breathing while in transit with paramedics and was fully resuscitated by doctors.

Investigators said that at the time of the accident the crosswalk signal was red, and therefore Tegtmeyer should not have been crossing the street. They also reported that Tegtmeyer miraculously escaped alive because the dent in the side of the Subaru caused by the crash created a hollow space that allowed the vehicle to roll over him without crushing him to death. Neither vehicle was carrying any passengers, and both drivers escaped with only minor injuries.

The crash was captured by one of the automated red-light enforcement cameras installed at a dozen intersections around Dayton to help reduce crashes caused by drivers running red lights. Each camera records 12-second motion videos used to issue citations to offending motorists.

Last updated:   26 July 2007

  Sources:

    Chema, Alexis and Jim Bebbington.   "Cameras Stopping Crashes."

    Dayton Daily News.   29 May 2004   (p. A1).

    Grieco, Lou.   "Driver Killed in 3-Car Crash."

    Dayton Daily News.   3 June 2004   (p. B1).

    Roberson, Jason.   "Victim Declared Dead, Revived."

    Dayton Daily News.   24 May 2004   (p. A1).

    WDTN-TV, Dayton.   "Pedestrian Caught in the Middle of Car Crash."

    24 May 2004.