Four People Hit and Killed by Cars in the Past Week
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Four people hit and killed in the past week. Two 85-year-old women, a 72-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy. Now the community is looking at ways to keep pedestrians safe. Video by kmir6.com
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PALM SPRINGS--Two more pedestrians have been hit and killed by cars. The latest accidents happened Sunday. One in Desert Hot Springs the other in Cathedral City. Bringing the total to four people hit and killed in the past week. Two 85-year-old women, a 72-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy. Now the community is looking at ways to keep pedestrians safe.
Police say an increase in tourism this time of year means an increase in the number of people running across the street.
"Each case is different," Palm Springs Police Sergeant, Mike Kovaleff said. "For our case, we had a tourist in town who was crossing, not in an intersection, not in a crosswalk. Crossing in a very dark area at night and the driver didn't see her."
With few crosswalks along some major roads in Palm Springs, some seniors jaywalk to avoid walking long distances.
"Well I think it's really sad because there is an issue with seniors who sometimes can't walk to the nearest crosswalk because it's far away. Most of our seniors here are very aware of using the crosswalks," Executive Director of the Mizell Senior Center, Ginny Foat said.
Outside the Mizell Senior Center talking crosswalk signals help pedestrians know exactly when it's safe to cross.
Robert Vaughn walks the neighborhood frequently, he says jetting across the street is too risky.
"On busy corners like this one right down there and the one by Smoke Tree, I see people getting nearly hit a lot of the time," said Palm Springs resident Robert Vaughn.
The most important safety tip from police, always use a crosswalk even if it means you have to walk a little farther.
It's not all up to pedestrians, drivers need to slow down and check their surroundings too.
--Adrianna Weingold
aweingold@kmir6.com
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