East Phoenix Man, 44, Dies Crossing Van Buren Outside Crosswalk

A 44-year-old man died after being struck by a vehicle while crossing East Van Buren Street outside a marked crosswalk just before midnight last Sunday, according to Phoenix police. Sharmarke Ismail was found by emergency crews seriously injured and lying in the road near 48th and Van Buren streets, and he was later transported to a nearby hospital, where he died.

Police officers were called to the pedestrian crash near 48th and Van Buren streets, and investigators say Ismail was attempting to cross 48th Street outside a marked crosswalk when he was hit, according to AZ Family. The driver involved was not impaired at the time of the collision and stayed at the crash scene, authorities said. As of Monday, the crash investigation remains ongoing.

A Corridor Built for Speed, Not Foot Traffic

East Van Buren Street is a major arterial corridor in East Phoenix that connects toward the Loop 202 freeway and Tempe, with posted speed limits reaching 45 mph east of 48th Street, per legal records reviewed by AZ Law Now. That kind of roadway design, built to move vehicles quickly through the corridor, can leave little room for error when someone attempts to cross mid-block after dark.

Under Arizona Revised Statutes § 28-793, pedestrians crossing a roadway anywhere other than within a marked crosswalk or an unmarked intersection crosswalk are legally required to yield the right-of-way to vehicles on the street, according to the Arizona State Legislature. But that obligation doesn't erase a driver's own responsibilities. Under Arizona Revised Statutes § 28-794, drivers must still exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian on any roadway, including sounding the horn when necessary and using extra caution when hazards are present, the Phillips Law Group notes.

Because both parties carry legal duties, fault in mid-block collisions like this one isn't always assigned to one side alone. Arizona's pure comparative fault statute, A.R.S. § 12-2505, allows legal responsibility to be split between driver and pedestrian based on contributing factors such as speed, distraction, or ambient street lighting, according to AZ Law Now.

Part of a Bigger, Deadlier Pattern

Ismail's death adds to a grim statistical picture for the region. Maricopa County accounted for 1,516 pedestrian collisions and 158 pedestrian fatalities in 2024 alone, representing roughly 60% of all pedestrian deaths statewide, per data from the Arizona Department of Transportation cited by AZ Law Now. Statewide, preliminary 2024 figures show Arizona recorded 263 pedestrian fatalities, a rate of 3.6 per 100,000 residents that is nearly double the national average and the second-highest in the country behind New Mexico, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

Darkness plays an outsized role in these crashes. Statewide crash data from 2024 shows that 76% of pedestrian fatalities in Arizona, or 200 of 261 fatal pedestrian collisions, occurred during dark or nighttime conditions, the same AZ Law Now analysis found. Ismail was struck just before midnight, placing his death squarely within that pattern.

Citywide, Phoenix recorded 37,472 total motor vehicle crashes in 2024, resulting in 265 fatal crashes and 278 traffic deaths, a decline from 307 fatalities the year before, according to an Esquire Law analysis of ADOT data. In response to the broader toll, the Phoenix City Council adopted its Vision Zero Road Safety Action Plan in September 2022, committing $10 million annually toward high-injury corridors and safety infrastructure with a goal of eliminating traffic fatalities citywide by 2050, per the City of Phoenix Street Transportation Department.

A String of Similar Crashes Across the Valley

Ismail's death is the latest in a string of pedestrian fatalities and severe crashes reported across Phoenix in recent days. A 14-year-old was left critical after being hit at 35th and Dunlap the day before, and a 53-year-old man was left critical following a hit-and-run and street chase in north Phoenix around the same time. Earlier this month, a South Phoenix man died days after a mid-block crash on Baseline Road under similar circumstances, with an unimpaired driver remaining on scene.

It remains unclear whether Phoenix Police Vehicular Crimes Unit detectives will identify roadway lighting or driver speed as contributing factors in Ismail's death, whether any citations or formal charges will be submitted to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, or whether the 48th and Van Buren corridor is slated for safety upgrades under the city's Vision Zero program. For now, police say the investigation into what led to Ismail's death is still active.