A woman was struck by a car Tuesday evening while walking across Freeport Road, near its intersection with Murrayhill Road, in East Deer.
Responders were dispatched at 5:18 p.m. to the intersection, where the woman was hit by a car turning left from Murrayhill onto Freeport Road, said Jack Bailie, East Deer fire chief.
“She was lying in the street and had crawled off the street when we got there,” Bailie said.
Bailie estimated the woman to be in her 60s. He said she was having trouble moving one of her legs. EMS took the woman to a local hospital.
“She was alert and talking,” Bailie said.
Bailie said the driver of the vehicle stayed on the scene and cooperated with Allegheny Valley Regional Police.
Crews were able to clear the scene just before 6 p.m. First responders closed a lane of Freeport Road in the area of Murrayhill, but traffic still was able to move through with minimal delays.
East Deer resident Staci Weiher said she was coming across the New Kensington Bridge to her Freeport Road home when she saw police cars and heard fire whistles.
“I pulled in my driveway, parked my car, came out and realized somebody got hit by a car,” she said. She estimated she lives about 100 feet from the intersection.
Although there is a marked crosswalk at the intersection, there is no signage there, “and there needs to be,” she said.
“It’s really bad along here. People fly up and down here,” she said.
In addition to Allegheny Valley Regional Police, other responders to the crash included departments from Tarentum, East Deer, New Kensington and Frazer.
An update on the incident from police was not available Wednesday.
East Deer Commissioners Chairman Tony Taliani said there haven’t been many incidents where people have been hit by cars, nor has the township fielded any concerns about pedestrian safety in that area.
But improvements at that intersection, including additional signage, is something officials would consider, he said.
“It’s definitely something I’d look into,” he said. “We’re concerned about the safety of the pedestrians in our township.
“We’ll take every precaution to protect pedestrians, and so forth.”
