ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH, Fla. – An unidentified woman died Thursday south of St. Augustine Beach after she was hit by a truck on State Road A1A, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The woman was struck while crossing through a crosswalk by a utility truck near Dondanville Road, according to FHP.
The truck driver, who failed to see the pedestrian in the crosswalk before the collision, remained at the scene, FHP said.
A witness to the crash said there were two crashes within minutes of each other. He said he saw a fender-bender between two care and about 10 minutes later there was another crash.
“The guy who ended up just leaving the store, he was making a left to turn off Dondanville,” said Rafiel Emanuel who works near the crash site. “He saw a lady on a bicycle in his peripheral, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t see the other lady coming towards him. He ended up basically hitting her and I saw his truck shake a little bit. When I looked up, I saw the truck shake, I heard the tire skirt. He ended up parallel parking on the side of the road. I looked up a little bit. And I saw the lady there just basically laid out on the floor and that’s when I knew.”
All northbound lanes were blocked just before 11 a.m. and reopened around 1 p.m.
The driver of the pickup truck was a 49-year-old man but no other details have been released about him or the victim.
Residents in the area said pedestrian safety is a common problem.
“Pedestrians all over the road,” said Anatoliy Dzhanumyan, who frequently travels on Route A1A. “They all come in and they all decide to just walk on the streets.”
Joe Pikur is lives near the site of the crash and often bikes around the area.
“It’s pretty busy, pretty dangerous,” said Pikur. “I’ve almost been hit three times by people just at this intersection alone. So, you got to really be careful.”
Stephanie Meyers owns a home on Dondanville Road and also bikes nearby. She said she’s been lobbying local officials to implement more safety measures, including a radar speed indicator sign.
“It’s literally a racetrack, there is no regard for the residential speed limit,” Meyers said. “As a homeowner, it’s been really frustrating.”
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reports 217 deaths from traffic crashes so far in 2021.