A man died Sunday night after three separate vehicles struck him while he crossed Pacific Avenue just north of Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach, and two of the three drivers fled the scene before officers arrived. Only one driver, behind the wheel of a 2021 Jaguar, stopped and cooperated with investigators.
According to the Long Beach Press-Telegram, the collisions happened just before 7:25 p.m. Sunday as the man walked eastbound across Pacific Avenue outside of a crosswalk. A white SUV struck him first, and he then stepped off the center median into the northbound lanes, where a dark-colored sedan hit him as well. The 2021 Jaguar struck him next; that driver was the only one of the three who remained at the scene and cooperated with the investigation. Police officers tried to help the man until paramedics arrived and took him to a hospital, where he later died. His identity has been withheld pending notification of relatives, per the same report.
Police said speed, distracted driving, and impaired driving do not appear to be factors in the crash, and the investigation remains ongoing, the outlet noted. The two drivers fled. Under California Vehicle Code Section 20001, leaving the scene of a crash that causes injury or death is a felony punishable by up to four years in state prison, according to the Shouse Law Group, which notes the law requires drivers to stop and render aid regardless of who caused the collision.
A Corridor Already Marked for Danger
The stretch of Pacific Avenue where the man was killed is no stranger to tragedy. Just months earlier, on June 10, 2026, a 71-year-old woman was struck and killed near the same intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Pacific Avenue while crossing against a red light, as reported by CBS News Los Angeles, which noted the driver in that incident stayed and cooperated with officers.
Pacific Avenue is officially designated within the City of Long Beach's High-Injury Network as the city's fourth most dangerous traffic corridor for pedestrians and bicyclists, according to the City of Long Beach. A 48-hour speed study conducted along the avenue by city traffic engineers in November 2024 found that only 14% of drivers traveled at or below the posted 25 mph limit, per the Downtown Long Beach Alliance, which said the findings supported city plans for street reconfigurations.
Federal Money, Slow Fixes
In September 2024, the City of Long Beach was awarded $25 million from the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All program to build protected bike lanes, continuous medians, and raised crosswalks along two miles of Pacific Avenue north of Pacific Coast Highway, according to the office of U.S. Senator Alex Padilla. That overhaul remains scheduled for construction, meaning the corridor's current, more hazardous configuration was still in place when Sunday's fatal crash occurred.
Under California Assembly Bill 2147, known as the Freedom to Walk Act, mid-block street crossing has been decriminalized since January 1, 2023, unless an immediate hazard of a collision exists, according to the Compass Law Group. The law limits jaywalking citations but does not remove a pedestrian's duty of care, and it does not affect the legal obligations of drivers involved in a crash.
A Decade-High Death Toll
Long Beach recorded 53 fatal traffic collisions in 2025, the highest annual death toll on city roadways in more than a decade, according to LAist. Of those 53 deaths, 31 were pedestrians, the outlet found through public records requests.
The Long Beach City Council adopted the Safe Streets Long Beach Action Plan in July 2020, setting an official Vision Zero goal to eliminate all traffic-related deaths and serious injuries citywide by 2026, according to city council records. Senate Bill 1279 has been proposed for Long Beach's eight-mile stretch of Pacific Coast Highway, LAist reported.
Sunday's crash was Long Beach's 27th traffic fatality of 2026. Long Beach police have not released further details on the search for Sunday's two missing drivers, and the investigation into the crash remains active.
