WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah, Aug. 30, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — Police have identified a woman who died after police say she was struck by a car while attempting to cross Redwood Road between crosswalks.
The deceased is Elizabeth Martinez, 55, from West Valley City, spokeswoman for West Valley City Police Department Roxeanne Vainuku told Gephardt Daily.
The accident happened at about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday in the area of 4000 South, WVCPD Sgt. Jason Johnson told Gephardt Daily Wednesday night.
“It appears an adult woman tried to cross Redwood Road in the middle of the block,” he said. “AÂ northbound car struck her, she was pronounced dead on the scene.”
The driver of the car that struck the woman was an 18-year-old man, Vainuku said.
Vainuku said the driver stopped immediately and submitted to blood tests, but at this time, investigators do not suspect he was impaired, distracted or speeding and charges are not expected. Vainuku said the area Martinez was crossing was dark and mid-block, and it’s more likely that the incident was an unfortunate accident.
Johnson said on that area of Redwood Road, a lot of residents like to cross the busy road to get to businesses on the other side of the street, even though crosswalks are fairly close.
But often, drivers don’t have time to react.
“When someone steps out into traffic, there’s a certain amount of time that’s required for someone to make a decision, recognize that problem, do some evasive driving or apply the brake,” Johnson said.
With summer winding down, “there are still a lot of people out,” Johnson said. “Put the phone away and pay attention to the driving.” Johnson reiterated that there was no indication in this particular case that a phone added to the problem.
