Two more pedestrians killed by motorists

by Tom Beck
Posted 7/7/22

For the second time in two weeks, a pedestrian was killed at the corner of Germantown Avenue and Coulter Street on Sunday when a 31-year-old woman crossing the street was struck by a driver who fled.

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Two more pedestrians killed by motorists

Posted

For the second time in two weeks, a pedestrian was killed at the corner of Germantown Avenue and Coulter Street on Sunday when a 31-year-old woman crossing the street was struck by a driver who fled the scene. Less than two weeks before on June 20, Dia Lee, 21, was struck and killed at the same intersection. 

As of press time on Tuesday, the Local had not yet ascertained the identity of the victim, and police were searching for a hit and run driver. 

“This keeps happening,” said Mt. Airy resident Kittura Dior, a member of the Northwest Traffic Calming Committee (NWTCC), which seeks to implement traffic calming measures around Northwest Philadelphia. “It’s hard to even find the right words to say anything.”

A 24-year-old woman was also killed in West Mt. Airy Sunday night when the side of her car was struck head on by a tow truck on the corner of Lincoln Drive and Emlen Street. 

Incidents like these are “all too expected, really,” said Mt. Airy resident Anne Dicker, another member of the NWTCC. “Those roads are engineered for cars to go fast. They need to be down engineered with traffic calming.”

On neighborhood Facebook groups, residents and parents of students at nearby Wister Elementary School have complained regularly about Germantown Avenue being dangerous to cross. One parent said her son, who is an Eagle Scout, wrote to the city in an attempt to have a stoplight placed at the corner of Germantown Avenue and East Bringhurst Street. 

The roads are engineered for fast traffic, Dior said, because they are designated as “arterial” roads, which encourages traffic engineers to prioritize speed over safety. 

“When you put an arterial label on a street, a traffic engineer from God knows where says we don’t need stop signs or any restrictions because this is an arterial road,” Dior said. 

Recent accidents like these have mobilized residents to restart the Northwest Traffic Calming Committee, an organization that had been dormant for years prior to being started initially in 2007. 

Members of the committee argue that there should be speed cameras on Lincoln Drive, similar to those on Roosevelt Boulevard in Northeast Philadelphia. It’s a topic the group plans to discuss at a meeting scheduled for July 24 at the Carpenter Lane train station.

In the wake of Sunday’s accidents, Dicker said she’d been getting “loads of emails from people saying they’re going to be at the meeting.”

“I think a lot of people are going to be there because we recognize we have a huge growing problem, and we know there are things we can do about it,” Dicker said. “We need to make sure our elected officials make our neighborhood a priority.”

Editor's note: This is a developing story. Check chestnuthilllocal.com for updates.