Pedestrian killed in N. Highway knockdown

Despite that incident, violent crime was held to a minimum over the long holiday weekend. But the same could not be said for the slaughter that occurred on the nation’s highways. The most recent death occurred Monday evening around six in Belize City.

Marisol Bradley, Sister of the Deceased
“If she was sick we could have understand, but in a blink of an eye? You promise to see her the following day and just to get the bad news that someone just came and took her away from you. It is hurtful Jackie.”

Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
The blood stain between miles two and three on the Northern Highway suggests that area resident fifty year old Solangel Hulse was not far away from home when she was hit. Hulse had been talking with a neighbourhood friend and was making her way home when she was knocked down by a car driven by twenty-two year old Joel Lodge.

The friend, who did not wish to appear on camera, says the Nissan Sentra was travelling at a very high speed and was the only vehicle in the immediate area when the car suddenly appeared to head straight for Hulse.

Voice of Eyewitness
“She just left me, [was] coming cross the street and this car just come speeding by and swerved into her and hit her. You hear the thing just gone “Bam!” and I just rush in and got my cellular phone and call 911. And after that I rush through and came cross the street and looked at her on the street and blood was just coming from her mouth. I think she was already dead.”

The horrific accident was also witnessed by Hulse’s common-law husband Eluterio Romero. Romero says Hulse had already left the median and crossed the highway, but as she was about to step onto the sidewalk, she was hit. Romero says he was not prepared for what happened next.

Eluterio Romero, Common law Husband of the Deceased
“Well the knock that she got, she ended up on the bonnet and the car drove off with her, I would say another three hundred feet when I think somebody realized that somebody was on the car. And when they braked, she fell off the car and the guy didn’t stay there either, he just bypassed the body and went to the front of the body.”

Romero also claims the car was travelling at an excessive speed and he does not know if that caused the driver to lose control and drive straight into Hulse.

Eluterio Romero
“I believe that they were coming fast, extra fast, about sixty to seventy miles and hour. And I think probably they must have just lost—or probably they were asleep or they were drunk or something like that, it has to be something like that. That’s what caused the accident.”

Joel Lodge has told police that he was driving from the Belama area to Belize City when he knocked down a woman who was attempting to run across the highway.

Eluterio Romero
“And we were only about two feet away from one another.”

Jacqueline Godwin
“So she wasn’t attempting to cross the highway, she had already crossed the highway.”

Eluterio Romero
“Yes, she had already crossed.”

Jacqueline Godwin
“And was about to get on to the sidewalk.”

Eluterio Romero
“Yes, because she only wanted to put her feet on the sidewalk. She was just about like this when I hear bang.”

Today, Lodge was taken back to the accident scene where police took measurements and continued their investigation.

Marisol Bradley
“How he could he not avoid hitting her and he was the only vehicle, according to the news, that was on the road at that moment and she was the only one?”

Eluterio Romero
“She was all broken up, was all bruised up. All her face was swollen up and she got a big chop in her head.”

The tragedy has highlighted a growing concern, especially for the people who live along this section of the highway.

Eyewitness
“The vehicle they pass very fast on the highway every, everyday. Everyday I up and down this road and I have to be careful when I cross the street. Sometimes I have to wait for four, five, six vehicle pass because I could get cross. But I wait until the road is clear before I cross.”

Marisol Bradley
“As the result of the death of my sister, the area is poorly lit. I would like it to be more brightly lit and they put stricter laws on speeding.”

As the Hulse family struggles with Solangel’s death, they are appealing to the proper authorities to do something before someone else loses their life. Marisol Bradley believes the laws should be strengthened.

Marisol Bradley
“Someone loses their loved one and that person only gets a slap on the wrist, a fine, and they continue living like it was like something just went as passed away when the rest of the family stay behind grieving, especially when a mother has to lose her eldest child. First of all, it’s four of us, she’s the eldest one lose her that way.”

Joel Lodge has since been charged with Manslaughter by Negligence, causing Death by Careless Conduct, and Driving Without Due Care and Attention.