A 64-year-old Bradenton man died Friday night after a pickup truck struck him as he tried to cross U.S. Highway 41 in Manatee County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The crash happened around 9:29 p.m. at the intersection of U.S. 41 (14th Street West) and 60th Avenue West.
According to Tampa Bay 28, the man was crossing the northbound lanes of U.S. 41 on the south side of the intersection when he entered the path of a 2014 Ford F-150 driven by a 49-year-old Palmetto man. The truck was traveling north in the inside lane and, per investigators, had a green traffic signal as it approached the intersection. The front of the pickup struck the pedestrian, who suffered critical injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. The truck's driver was not injured, and the Florida Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate; the victim's name has not yet been released by authorities.
A Stretch of US 41 Long Flagged as Hazardous
This is not the first time this specific commercial corridor has drawn scrutiny. A safety effort for U.S. 41 has included proposed sidewalks, added lighting and signal improvements at 53rd and 60th Avenue West, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.
Friday's fatality echoes a November 2024 case in which Florida Highway Patrol troopers investigated a fatal hit-and-run crash along U.S. 41 near 63rd Avenue West that killed a 62-year-old pedestrian, a case Bradenton Driver Arrested for Fatal Hit-and-Run covered in detail at the time.
Why the Road Is So Dangerous for Pedestrians
The numbers help explain why this corridor keeps producing tragedy. Under the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization's Destination Zero traffic safety data, high-injury network corridors make up just 2.8% of the two-county region's non-interstate roads, yet account for 44.8% of all fatal and serious injury traffic crashes, according to the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization. Smart Growth America's “Dangerous by Design” report ranks metropolitan areas by pedestrian danger.
What Florida Law Says About Right-of-Way
The circumstances of Friday's crash raise questions that Florida's pedestrian statutes address directly. Florida Statute § 316.130(10) requires every pedestrian crossing a roadway at any point other than within a marked crosswalk or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection to yield the right-of-way to oncoming vehicles.
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating Friday's crash on U.S. 41. The investigation remains open, and no charges have been announced.
