Man fatally injured while crossing Route 50

A 70-year-old man who was trying to cross Route 50 on Maryland's Eastern Shore was fatally injured Friday morning when he was struck by a car driven by a Maryland state trooper, the state police said.

They said James H. White Jr., who had been staying at a motel and had no fixed address, was struck about 9:15 a.m. in the Queenstown area by a police-issued car driven by First Sgt. Livingston Banks of the state police.

Police said that their preliminary investigation indicated that White stepped from a traffic island at Hissey Road and Route 50 directly into traffic. Route 50 is a controlled-access highway in that area and pedestrians are not permitted on the roadway, police said. The site is about 10 miles east of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

According to a police account, cars in the westbound lanes of the highway in front of the trooper veered suddenly and White appeared without warning in the trooper's path. Although Banks tried to stop and to avoid the man, White was struck, police said. The trooper administered emergency care until an ambulance arrived, police said.

Police said Banks has been on the force for 25 years and is assigned to the Automotive Safety Enforcement Division.