Pedestrian Struck, Killed on Freeway : Accident: Victim dies instantly when hit by tractor-trailer. Car hits center divider in avoiding the jackknifed truck.

A 40-year-old man trying to cross the northbound lanes of the Santa Ana Freeway was killed Tuesday when hit by a semitrailer truck, the California Highway Patrol said.

The pedestrian, a Santa Ana resident whose name was withheld pending notification of relatives, died instantly. He was hit about 11 a.m. north of the Crescent Avenue exit, CHP Officer Lyle Whitten said.

“Witnesses said the man had run across the southbound lanes first, before the accident,” Whitten said. “He had jumped over the center divider, then ran across the northbound lanes. He was on his way back when he was hit.”

It was not clear why the man was trying to cross the freeway, since there were no stalled cars on either side, Whitten said.

Andrew Kaiwi, 55, of Costa Mesa told investigators he was northbound on the freeway when the man ran from the right shoulder directly in front of his tractor-trailer rig. Kaiwi locked his brakes but could not avoid the man, officers said.

“He completely jackknifed and ended up facing the southerly direction, where he had come from,” Whitten said.

The driver of a Nissan pickup that was following the big rig hit the center divider in her efforts to avoid the truck. Neither the driver, 46-year-old Joyce Gima of Cerritos, nor her 76-year-old mother, Tomiko Izuma, was injured, Whitten said.

The tractor-trailer blocked all northbound lanes, which were closed for 90 minutes, the CHP said. Traffic was backed up for at least five miles during the cleanup.

Kaiwi was unhurt and was able to drive his big rig away, Whitten said.