Friends, family mourn 19-year-old killed in ‘preventable’ crash on US-50

DEARBORN COUNTY, Ind. (WXIX) - The family of a 19-year-old man buried him Wednesday, six days after he was hit by a car on US-50.

Lee Thomas’ car broke down on the state route in Greendale, Indiana around 7:30 p.m.

Indiana State Police said Thomas got out of the car and went to push it from the rear while a 15-year-old got behind the wheel and steered.

At some point, a car going the same direction driven by a 76-year-old hit Thomas, killing him, according to ISP.

A Go Fund Me account created for funeral expenses more than doubled its goal of $10,000.

“You hear bad things that happen every day, but yo never think it’s going to happen to you... and then it does,” one of Thomas’ many friends said Wednesday evening after the funeral and visitation.

Kyle Griffith was among them.

“It’s just hard, man,” Griffith said. “It’s just totally preventable.”

The family has created a petition to install street lights on US-50 near the crash scene, without which the road lies in near-complete darkness past sundown.

“I don’t think any family deserves what we’re going through right now,” said Thomas’ aunt, Lisa Baker. “If we can save somebody else’s life by having that place lit up, then I think it’s all well worth it.”

The petition has already received thousands of signatures.

“With Lee being the light that he was, it only makes sense that we light up the streets for him,” said friend Amberly Webb. “I think Lee would have wanted us to do everything we can to make sure they’re safe, just like he was trying to do when he lost his life,”

“If those lights were there, it could have been prevented,” friend Andrew Anderson said. “The driver that hit him could have seen him before it actually happened.”

Griffith says there have been multiple crashes at that location in the last month without public officials taking action. “Somebody needs to,” he said.

“If they understood how we felt about what happened, they’d push for it,” Anderson added.

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