A woman was killed Wednesday afternoon when she was struck by a semi near the intersection of River and Water streets, the Santa Cruz Police Department announced.
Witnesses said the woman was walking a dog around 3:15pm when she was struck. The driver stopped and was cooperating with police. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Her identity was not available Wednesday evening.
There have been several pedestrian fatalities locally in recent years, and pedestrian fatalities in the U.S. have skyrocketed by 46% since 2009, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Allison Endert, who worked for county Supervisor Ryan Coonerty, was struck by an allegedly intoxicated driver and killed on an afternoon walk in Seabright on June 15, 2020.
In December 2019, former San Jose City Council candidate and Bay Area Women’s March founder Jenny Higgins Bradanini was driving to a doctor’s appointment in Los Gatos when she hit 66-year-old Timothy Starkey on the 900 block of Blossom Hill Road in Los Gatos, according to police reports. Authorities pronounced Starkey dead at the scene.Â