Demonstrators hold up signs as they cross the intersection where a person was killed on Bancroft Way and Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. About two dozen members of the community gathered for a vigil in honor of William Evans, 72, who was killed in his wheelchair while crossing Bancroft Way on October 20th. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
BERKELEY — A small gathering of about two dozen people held protest signs and demanded safer streets for pedestrians, bikers and others on Tuesday while honoring the life of a man killed by a dump truck last month.
The groups Telegraph for People, Walk Bike Berkeley and Senior and Disability Action marched at Bancroft Way near Shattuck Avenue, near the site where William Evans, 72, lost his life on Oct. 20.
Evans was in a wheelchair trying to cross Bancroft Way and died hours after being hit by a dump truck driver.
“He was Vietnam vet who lost both of his legs in the war above the knees, and he had a wheelchair that had to be pushed,” friend Judy Jackson said. “So trying to get across the street in that chair in the light was hard. He had to push it with his arms, and he didn’t have help.”
Representatives from the organizations were not available for comment early Wednesday. All three groups advocate for safer streets that will invite non-motorists.
Among the positions they were advocating were proposals to eliminate right-hand turns on red lights throughout Berkeley; extending pedestrian crossing times and abolishing “beg” buttons that pedestrians must push to cross the street.
The Telegraph for People group, a student organization at UC Berkeley, said its top priority is to eliminate cars on Telegraph Avenue from Haste Street to Bancroft Avenue near the campus.
“A couple of years ago, he’d been missing a while,” Jackson said of Evans. “I asked where he’d been, and he said he’d been in the hospital, because he’d been hit (by a vehicle). So this was his second time.”
According to police, Evans died hours after being hit by a dump truck driver. The collision happened about 11:55 a.m. He initially appeared to be OK with non-life threatening injuries, police said, then died at a hospital about 3 1/2 hours later.
Cecilia Lunaparra, left, and Giuseppe Perona, of Berkeley, hold up signs at the intersection where a person was killed on Bancroft Way and Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. About two dozen members of the community gathered for a vigil in honor of William Evans, 72, who was killed in his wheelchair while crossing Bancroft Way on October 20th. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Police said the truck driver was going west on Bancroft Way and hit Evans in his wheelchair. The collision pinned Evans underneath the vehicle.
The driver stayed and cooperated with officers. Police have not made any arrests.
Demonstrators hold up signs as they cross the intersection where a person was killed on Bancroft Way and Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. About two dozen members of the community gathered for a vigil in honor of William Evans, 72, who was killed in his wheelchair while crossing Bancroft Way on October 20th. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) Kuan Butts, of Oaklamjd, left, and another demonstrator post a sign at the intersection where a person was killed on Bancroft Way and Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. About two dozen members of the community gathered for a vigil honoring William Evans, 72, who was killed while crossing Bancroft Way in his wheelchair on October 20th (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) Demonstrators hold up signs as a Berkeley police officer in a bike patrol crosses the intersection where a person was killed on Bancroft Way and Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. About two dozen members of the community gathered for a vigil in honor of William Evans, 72, who was killed in his wheelchair while crossing Bancroft Way on October 20th. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) About two dozen members of the community gathered for a vigil in honor of William Evans, 72, at the intersection where he was killed on Bancroft Way and Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. Evans who was killed in his wheelchair while crossing Bancroft Way on October 20th.(Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) Judy Jackson, who knew William Evans, 72, and about two dozen members of the community gathered for a vigil in his honor at the intersection where he was killed on Bancroft Way and Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. Evans was killed in his wheelchair while crossing Bancroft Way on October 20th.(Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) Cecilia Lunaparra, left, Giuseppe Perona and Liza Lutzker, of Berkeley, hold up signs at the intersection where a person was killed on Bancroft Way and Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. About two dozen members of the community gathered for a vigil in honor of William Evans, 72, who was killed in his wheelchair while crossing Bancroft Way on October 20th. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Rick Hurd has covered breaking news, crime and public safety since 2011 after spending 16 years covering sports, including the A's and Sharks. He has worked with the Bay Area News Group since 1995.
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