Driver Charged With Intoxication Manslaughter In S. Austin Wreck

AUSTIN, TX — A motorist has been charged with intoxication manslaughter after striking a pedestrian in southwest Austin over the weekend, police said Thursday.

The incident occurred just before 4 p.m. Sunday along the 3900 block of South Lamar Boulevard, according to a police advisory. Police said a 2016 Toyota Corolla was traveling southbound approaching an intersection controlled by a traffic control device. A vehicle was stopped in the left turn lane at a red light, police added, and the Toyota driver swerved left of the stalled car to avoid hitting it. As a result, police said, the Toyota went onto the center cement median dividing north and south traffic on Lamar Boulevard before striking a pedestrian.

The pedestrian, a 31-year-old man, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

A passenger in the Toyota was uninjured, police said, but the driver was hospitalized for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries before being charged with intoxication manslaughter.

Neither the driver nor the pedestrian were identified.

The incident marked Austin’s 54th fatal traffic crash of 2020, police said, resulting in 59 fatalities this year. At this time in 2019, police added, there were 52 traffic fatalities.