A 78-year-old man was struck and killed by a vehicle while walking on the Hollywood (101) Freeway in downtown Los Angeles early Saturday, June 20, authorities said. The crash was reported around 3:30 a.m. on the southbound side of the freeway just south of Alameda Street. The Los Angeles County medical examiner's office later identified the victim as Myong Park. According to the California Highway Patrol, the collision is not being treated as a hit-and-run, and investigators still do not know why Park was on foot in the freeway lanes.
Details of the crash were first reported by MyNewsLA, which cited information from the California Highway Patrol and the county coroner. That account states Park was found in a traffic lane and pronounced dead at the scene. No further details were immediately available, and CHP investigators are continuing to handle the case.
Investigation And Citywide Safety Context
This latest death lands in the middle of a broader citywide struggle to tame deadly traffic. Pedestrian fatalities on Los Angeles streets remain a major concern, and transportation experts have repeatedly pointed to gaps in enforcement and infrastructure that can make serious crashes more likely. An independent audit reprinted by LAist found the city's Vision Zero program has not come close to driving traffic deaths to zero and noted more than 300 traffic fatalities in Los Angeles in 2024. The Los Angeles Department of Transportation's latest annual report also outlines steps the city is taking to target high-risk corridors, according to LADOT.
Not The First Fatality On The 101
Pedestrian deaths on the Hollywood (101) Freeway are not unheard of. In April, a pre-dawn 101 horror near Hollywood left a man in his 40s dead on the northbound side. The Los Angeles Times also covered a 2022 case in which a woman fell from a party bus and was struck and killed on the 101 near Alameda Street. Together, those incidents highlight how little margin for error there is when a pedestrian ends up on a high-speed freeway.
CHP has not released additional information about the vehicle or the driver involved in Park's death, and the coroner's office is managing final identification procedures and next-of-kin notifications, MyNewsLA reported. This story will be updated as authorities release more details.
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