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Woman, Child Hit By Car Driven By Fort Lee Woman

The 87-year-old driver was ticketed Tuesday after she ran into a woman and her three-year-old child in a crosswalk at Center Avenue and Whiteman Street, police said.

 

A Palisades Park woman and a three-year-old child suffered minor injuries Tuesday afternoon when they were hit by a car driven by an 87-year-old Fort Lee woman at the intersection of Center Avenue and Whiteman Street, according to police.

The pedestrian and the child were in the crosswalk, crossing west on Center Avenue at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday when they were both struck by a 2004 Lexus ES travelling east on Whiteman and making a left turn onto Center, police said.

The collision caused the woman and child to “land on the hood of the vehicle,” according to Fort Lee police, who also said the adult pedestrian and witnesses to the accident told them the 87-year-old driver did not yield to the two while they were in the crosswalk.

“The driver was issued a motor vehicle summons for failure to yield to pedestrians for the violation,” said Fort Lee Police Chief Thomas O. Ripoli.

The two victims, who suffered what policed called “minor facial injuries,” were transported to Hackensack University Medical Center for treatment.

On July 4, another Palisades Park woman, who suffered minor injuries after getting hit by a car at Anderson Avenue and Main Street, became the 36th pedestrian struck by a vehicle in Fort Lee this year, even as local police continued to emphasize pedestrian safety by cracking down on drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians and enforcing jaywalking laws.

“Everybody’s okay,” Ripoli said Wednesday of the latest incident. “But this was actually the opposite—they were in the crosswalk. It wasn’t the pedestrian's fault.”

But Ripoli also acknowledged that the problem persists in spite of the Fort Lee Police Department’s best efforts.

“It was an 87-year-old woman driving and a child injured; that’s the sad part of it,” Ripoli said.

Related Topics: Center Avenue and Whiteman Street, Fort Lee Police Department, Pedestrian Struck, and pedestrian accidents

Anna

8:10 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012

87 years old? I'm sorry, but that driver should have his/her license revoked.

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William Mays

6:21 pm on Thursday, August 2, 2012

This is why old people should be required to take another driving test after they reach a certain age.

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Howard L. Pearl

10:51 pm on Thursday, August 2, 2012

All 87 year olds are not created equal; it is important not to generalize. However, if this accident was a direct result of this individual's inability to see or to drive, the police should immediately see to having her license revoked or, at the very least, to have the DMV retest her. In the past, the police have been extremely deferential to seniors, sympathetic to the plight of the elderly in terms of losing their independence. While this may seem compassionate, it is really dangerous. The next three year old victim may not survive.

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William Mays

11:24 pm on Thursday, August 2, 2012

Howard, what could it have been if it wasn't her inability to see or drive? If it was a health issue we would have known by now. I think requiring another test after a certain age is fair.

Zachary David

5:10 pm on Friday, August 3, 2012

If we want to make the roads safer, in addition to testing older drivers, we need to increase the age at which kids can begin driving. Many studies have documented that teen drivers are the most dangerous group. Their risk of crash per mile is 4 times higher than in older age groups. As the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety puts it, “teenage drivers represent a major hazard.” Although young drivers make up about 6 percent of the total licensed driving population, almost 13 percent of all drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2007 were young drivers 15 to 20 years old, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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