ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – August 27, what was supposed to be a family bonding night turned into a nightmare this family would never forget.
A woman was walking down Mountain View Terrace SW to her father’s house, alongside her two young relatives. That’s when a driver hit all three of them.
WDBJ spoke with the woman, who doesn’t want to reveal her identity for personal reasons. She’s speaking out because she wants a change in the city regarding pedestrian safety.
“For someone to still drive around out there not realizing that you could have killed three people, and you left them on the side of the road, and a 10-month-old baby at that,” the woman emphasized.
Last week, a driver veered off the road, hitting the woman and two children.
“I got hit from behind in my ribs on my left side. And immediately I turned, and the car was up on me. I was hitting the windows and windshield, and we were hollering and screaming and trying to get the car just to stop,” described the woman.
Police say the driver left the scene after the incident.
The woman said this neighborhood needs sidewalks, better lighting, and cameras.
“People are going to speed no matter where you are, if there’s nothing there to enforce the speed limit, but I feel like that this area should be more lit up,” she said.
The family said everyone is healing well, but they are still calling on the city to take action.
“We’re constantly in traffic engineering and in transportation and really city department-wide, working to improve pedestrian safety here in the city of Roanoke,” said Roanoke City’s Vision Zero and Safe Streets Coordinator Rob Issem.
He said pedestrian-involved crashes are down 30% but there’s still more work to be done.
“Next year, we’re going to work with RPD to have an effective educational campaign and hopefully compel people to put the phone down and do other things, like so that they are really focused on driving safely and just keeping one another safe,” explained Issem.
Police are still investigating the hit-and-run.
Roanoke Police are requesting anyone who may have information about the incident to contact them by calling (540) 344-8500 or texting 274637; begin the text with “RoanokePD” to ensure it is properly routed. Calls and texts can remain anonymous.
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