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Columbus man killed in pedestrian crash on Victory Drive

A Columbus man who regularly walked though the Victory Drive area was killed Thursday evening after he was hit by a car, authorities.

“He was known to walk the streets like that,” Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan said of Robert Porter II, who lived on Torch Hill Road, off Fort Benning Road near Victory Drive.

Porter was crossing Victory Drive near Marathon Drive just after dark Thursday when a vehicle hit him in the road’s westbound lanes, the coroner said. The crash happened shortly after 6 p.m., and Porter was pronounced dead from blunt-force trauma at Piedmont Columbus Regional at 6:41 p.m., Bryan said.

Victory Drive is not well lit in that area, Bryan noted. The sun had set about 30 minutes earlier.

Columbus police are investigating. A department spokesman said the crash was not a hit-and-run, as officers have identified all of those involved, and no charges had been filed Friday.

The area of Victory Drive where Porter was struck sometimes is described as running north and south, though it’s part of an east-west highway, U.S 280.

Bryan said Porter was near a Wendy’s at 3639 Victory Drive, which would be the north side of an east-west route, and walking away from the restaurant, toward the Chattahoochee River.

According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, around a third of all pedestrian deaths each year occur in October, November and December, and the hours of 6 to 9 pm. are the most deadly, accounting for about a quarter of all fatalities.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with more information from police about the nature of the crash.