Pickup truck strikes woman walking along sidewalk

Stephen Curran

Thursday, June 17, 2004 | 9:44 a.m.

A Las Vegas woman hit by a truck in a strange accident Wednesday morning as she was walking on a sidewalk was in critical condition with serious head trauma this morning.

Ada Saulsberry, 46, was walking along Washington Avenue by Cashman Center about 11 a.m. when a pickup truck hit a median curb, overcorrected, crossed two lanes of traffic and struck her.

She was in critical condition at University Medical Center this morning, said Metro Traffic Sgt. Frank Weigand.

"She was at the wrong time in the wrong place," he said.

Marco Chavez, a 22-year-old Las Vegas resident, was driving eastbound on Washington Avenue when he lost control of his 1995 Chevy S-10, causing it to hit the curb and spin. After the truck ran into the woman it crashed through a chainlink fence, Weigand said.

The truck stopped against the brick wall of a storage warehouse behind the sports and convention complex, he said.

Chavez, who was driving with his girlfriend, Karina Sanchez, 23, told police his brakes gave out, causing him to run into the raised median, Weigand said.

Chavez and Sanchez refused to talk to the Sun about the accident.

Saulsberry was taken with serious head trauma and broken bones to University Medical Center, where she remained overnight, Weigand said.

"She's still hanging in there," he said. Wednesday he estimated that her chances of survival were "50-50."

Weigand said such accidents often happen when people are driving too fast for the conditions, but added that investigators had not yet determined how fast the truck was traveling.

Driver error may have also played a role in the accident, as it appeared to officers that the driver may have turned the wheel too sharply, Weigand said.

"If you lose control, the worst thing you can do is jerk the wheel," he said. "But that's the first thing people do, jerk the steering wheel."

Chavez was cited for failure to maintain a travel lane. The circumstances of the accident were under investigation.

Seventeen pedestrians have died this year after being struck by moving vehicles, Weigand said.