SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Pedestrian and vehicular safety remains a tense issue in South Orange and neighboring communities. Last week, South Orange saw two pedestrian vs. vehicle incidents in which pedestrians were hit by cars.
According to the South Orange Police Department, at at approximately 12:09 p.m. on Oct. 14, two 13-year-old girls from Maplewood were struck by a vehicle while in the crosswalk on South Orange Avenue adjacent to the flag pole.
The girls were struck by a 71-year-old female motorist from Pennsylvania, as she was traveling eastbound on South Orange Avenue, police said. Witnesses at the scene told investigating officers that the westbound traffic had stopped and yielded to the juveniles as they entered and began to cross the crosswalk; however, the eastbound driver had apparently not seen the girls crossing.
The two girls suffered non-life-threatening injuries, amounting to varying degrees of cuts and contusions, according to police. As a result of the preliminary investigation, police believe that one of the girls hit the driver-side windshield of the 2012 Kia sedan, cracking it.
The two girls and the driver were transported by the South Orange Rescue Squad to the hospital for treatment. The driver was issued a summons for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, according to police.
Just a few days later, Oct. 17, at approximately 1 p.m., a 70-year-old South Orange resident was struck by a vehicle while she was crossing Walton Avenue.
Preliminary police investigation revealed that the victim appeared to have been crossing in the crosswalk at the intersection of Walton Avenue and Thornden Street. At this time, the victim appears to have suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was alert and conscious upon being transported to hospital. The driver, a 63-year-old Maplewood resident, was issued a summons for failing to yield to a pedestrian, according to police.
The South Orange Police Department’s investigations into both incidents are ongoing.
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