Two pedestrians were struck on Pennsylvania Avenue SE Thursday morning, within three hours and three blocks of one another. Both were struck by the drivers of vehicles attempting to make an eastbound turn onto Pennsylvania Avenue, and the injuries received by at least one are serious.
At around 8:30 a.m., police came to the 1000 block of Pennsylvania Avenue SE after getting reports of a traffic accident. A man had been struck by a driver trying to make a turn eastbound. The pedestrian was trying to cross the street when struck. He was transported to hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. The driver remained on the scene.
Two-and-a-half hours later, police were called to another accident on Pennsylvania Avenue SE. At around 11 a.m., an elderly woman was struck by the driver of a vehicle attempting to turn eastbound onto Pennsylvania Avenue SE near the intersection with 13th Street SE as she tried to cross the street.
Officers said that the driver of the vehicle was traveling at very low speeds when the pedestrian was struck and that the woman sustained injuries from the subsequent fall, which have been described as ‘pretty bad’.
The driver remained on scene. The woman was transported to hospital for treatment and this case remains under investigation.
Police did not release the identities of the pedestrians, and were reluctant to give the condition of the pedestrian struck later in the morning. That accident particularly alarmed residents of the neighborhood, who feared the worst when they saw the woman lying in the street.
However, some say that unfortunately, accidents in the area have become part of daily life.
With all the new development, drivers impatience and inadequate traffic calming, this is the new normal. (I say this as 50/50 driver and pedestrian.)
— Allison McGill (@allisonsmcgill) January 10, 2020
Another casual evening of destruction at Pennsylvania and Potomac Ave SE. We are entering our 16th year of planning safety improvements here. No rush
Too late for today but things are now progressing finally. Construction tentatively funded for 2022 and 2023. pic.twitter.com/CwH8ak9TB3
— Corey Holman (@coreyholman) January 3, 2020
There have been several serious traffic accidents in recent months, especially near the complicated intersection between 15th Street with Potomac and Pennsylvania Avenues SE.
Commissioner Corey Holman (ANC 6B06), an advocate for pedestrian and cyclist safety as well as traffic accountability, noted in a recent tweet that after more than a decade-and-a-half of planning, safety improvements to the area are slated to be funded in 2022 and 2023.
