Street vendors face constant dangers

06:35 PM CDT on Tuesday, May 17, 2005

By Carolyn Campbell / 11 News

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A cup of coffee and a smoke, that's how Mike Carrico started each day.

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"That was his spot -- right where that coffee cup is," said the victim's friend.

"That was his spot -- right where that coffee cup is," said store clerk Linda Woods.

But Carrico's day of selling newspapers on a busy Houston street corner had barely begun when he was struck and killed by a passing motorist.

Deputies say Carrico was in the street selling a paper when the light changed he was hit before he could make it back to the median.

It happened at Veterans Memorial and Beltway 8 in northwest Harris County.

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Harris County Sheriffs need your help in finding the driver of a black Dodge or Ford extended cab pickup truck.

"He was a sweet guy," said Woods. "He didn't bother anybody."

The driver kept going.

Harris County Deputies later tracked him down at a local window business. They say he was pulling a gooseneck trailer loaded with about 4,000 pounds of glass and had no idea he had hit anyone. The driver will not face charges.

Street vendors say their biggest fear is distracted drivers.

"When you get in the cars and they looking somewhere else and they push the gas sometimes," said Ralph Macias.

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Street vendors say their biggest fear is distracted drivers.

"I been hit with a couple of mirrors out here," said Pierre Kyle.

Some cities require street vendors to wear reflective vests. Ralph Macias believes Houston should do the same.

"Cause it reflects and people pay attention to you more, Macias said.

A friend of Carrico's, who sells papers on the opposite corner, does wear the vest. He didn't want to talk on camera, but told us it's a dangerous job that Carrico was only doing to make ends meet until his retirement check started in another two months.