JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A woman was killed Friday morning when she was hit by a vehicle on Kings Road not far from Edward Waters University, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said.
The crash was reported at 7 a.m. on Kings Road at the intersection of Spires Avenue in the College Gardens area.
JSO said a red Hyundai Elantra was headed east on Kings when the driver hit the elderly female pedestrian on the south side of the road.
A JSO spokesman said investigators determined the woman was hit in the crosswalk but they are trying to determine if she was crossing the street or if she had just stepped into the roadway.
The driver of the car remained at the scene, and he is cooperating with police.
An employee at a nearby convenience store said she sees the woman every day and she was shaken up by the news because the woman left this store this morning right before the crash.
Neighbors said speed is an issue in the neighborhood, although police have not said if speed was a factor in Friday’s crash. They said with a senior center nearby, a lot of elderly people walk in the neighborhood. There is a crosswalk with a signal but some people said they don’t even bother with it because drivers speed right through the light.
“People speed through here, 80-90 miles an hour all the time so it’s dangerous. It’s really dangerous for pedestrians,” neighbor Clarence Anderson said. “See how that car is going there. Too fast, it’s over the speed limit.”
Joyce Braswell said she walks from her senior center on Kings Road every day.
“I’ve been here for about 15 years and I never cross at that light because I’ve seen cars go through them,” Braswell said. “I think they do need to put some more signs up there to slow them down especially because of the elders.”
One woman said she has been hit by a driver on her bike before.
“I was crossing the street one night, and I was like at the end of the curb and before I know it, they hit the back of my bicycle,” Cynthia Canady said. “I was startled and my arm was hurting for a minute, but they kept on going.”
So many people mentioned speeding is a problem at the intersection that we broke out our radar gun. We caught one driver going 51 mph in the 30 mph zone. We were up against the light, waiting for cars to get closer. Despite the changing light, we clocked a semi-truck at 42 mph. Cars started to slow down once they saw us.
Friday’s deadly pedestrian crash was the 174th traffic fatality and the 45th pedestrian killed in Duval County this year, police said.
Police are still investigating who was at fault in Friday’s crash. Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call JSO at 904-630-0500 or CrimeStoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.