The death of a man who was crossing a busy street that doesn't have a crosswalk, seems to be having little effect on others making the same trip.

That’s why police in New Glasgow are warning pedestrians not to let convenience lead to tragedy.

Crossing the four-lane East River Road without a crosswalk is a common occurrence at the intersection of McColl Street.

From his office window on the corner, Mike MacKean has seen it all.

“Every day there is screeching tires and a lot of days when you hear the screech, you certainly take pause and have a little look to see what happened,” MacKean said.

That happened Monday night when a 58-year-old man was struck by an SUV while crossing East River Road near McColl Street.

He was taken to the nearby Aberdeen Hospital where he died.

His name has not been released.

Thousands of cars drive on East River Road every day -- a large number for a small town.

“In the evening, it becomes increasingly busy, peak morning hours, it's increasingly busy,” said Const. Ken MacDonald of the New Glasgow Regional Police. “So, therefore, in terms of pedestrians crossing at non-crosswalk areas, (it) can be very dangerous.”

The speed limit is 50 kilometres an hour, but faster speeds are not uncommon.

“This is a speedway there,” said pedestrian Marc St. Hilaire. “I mean, they travel, they don't stop (or) slow down for nothing.”

One person who made the crossing when not at a crosswalk Tuesday explained why he does it.

“A good question,” said pedestrian Scott Richardson. “Just because it gets a little quicker I guess, but, I don't know to be honest with you, just force of habit.”

Said MacDonald: “Individuals are crossing at non-crosswalks simply because of convenience. But convenience does have its price and in this case, we had a tragedy.”

Meanwhile, the New Glasgow police forensic and traffic units continue to investigate. It's not clear what charges, if any, the driver may be facing.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Dan MacIntosh.