Man dies after being struck by car on Modesto’s Standiford Avenue. Driver arrested

A driver hit and killed a 59-year-old man crossing Standiford Avenue in north Modesto on Tuesday night, according to police. Officers arrested a 21-year-old woman on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence.

Police Department spokeswoman Sharon Bear said the incident occurred at approximately 10:45 p.m. near Standiford and Sherwood avenues, just west of McHenry Avenue.

Police arrested Modesto resident Isabelle Fernandez and booked her at the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center. She remained in custody Wednesday morning on $250,000 bail, according to the Sheriff’s Department’s website.

Bear said the 59-year-old Modesto man was crossing Standiford from the north side when he was struck by a Honda Civic driving east. He was taken to the hospital were he died from his injuries.

The Coroner’s Office has not released the man’s name pending notification of his family.

Bear said this is the 13th traffic fatality in Modesto this year. Five involved pedestrians, one involved a bicyclist, three motorcycles and four vehicles. Three of the vehicle fatalities were solo accidents. For context, Bear said there have been five homicides in the city this year.

Modesto has consistently ranked among the worst for traffic crashes among its peer cities across the state in recent years, according to annual reports by California Office of Traffic Safety.

Modesto ranked second worst among its 61 peer cities for traffic crashes in 2020, according to the most recent report, which was released in December.

The rankings look at about a dozen types of collisions, including drivers hitting pedestrians, fatal crashes, DUI crashes, hit-and-run and speed-related crashes. It looked at a variety of factors, including population, the number of crashes and miles driven, in calculating the rankings.