Whatcom man crossing road Monday evening struck and killed by passing pickup
A 66-year-old Ferndale man who was crossing the road in the dark was struck and killed by a passing pickup Monday evening in northern Whatcom County.
Steven C. Griffith died Dec. 7 at the scene along North Enterprise Road, according to the Washington State Patrol report on the incident.
Griffith was crossing North Enterprise Road in the 7700 block, near the intersection with Willeys Lake Road shortly before 5:15 p.m. Monday night, according to the report.
A blue 200 Dodge Dakota driven by a 55-year-old Ferndale man was headed northbound at the time and struck Griffith, the report states. The driver of the Dakota stopped, remained on scene and was cooperative with investigators, Trooper Heather Axtman told The Bellingham Herald Tuesday.
Drugs or alcohol are not believed to have been involved in the fatal collision, Axtman said, and Googlemaps.com shows no crosswalks in the 7700 block of North Enterprise Road.
“Nothing criminal is suspected — not even reckless driving,” Axtman said, adding that more information may not be known until the State Patrol completes its investigation later this week. “It doesn’t mean we’re not going to over turn every stone to make sure everyone gets the answers they need about this tragic incident.”
Griffith’s death is the eighth on Whatcom County roadways in 2020, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation Crash Portal, down from the 16 the county saw in 2019. It is the second fatal incident involving a pedestrian, also down from four in 2019.
Unfortunately, both pedestrian-involved fatalities in the county this year have occurred in the past 2½ weeks. Monte L. Niewendorp, 60 from Bellingham, was struck and killed Nov. 19 while he was walking in the dark along Birch Bay Lynden Road after his vehicle ran out of gas.
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 7:24 AM.
