No Charges for 82-Year-Old who Struck and Killed Child Pedestrian

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on March 5, 2020

In an update to an ongoing story that captured the attention of many within Central Florida, an 82-year-old Cape Canaveral woman who was behind the wheel of a car when it fatally struck a 12-year-old girl will not face any charges in relation to the incident. The fatal pedestrian accident itself took place on the 22nd of December, as the 12-year-old was walking with her family close to the intersection of Ellwood Avenue and State Road A1A.

It was during the day, and the young person had reached an area of State Road A1A with a crosswalk at a mid-block location. This means that the crosswalk was not at an intersection, a place people are not normally accustomed to stopping for pedestrians. For this purpose, the city had erected a highly visible pedestrian crossing area which included flashing lights and a zebra pattern painted over the roadway.

When the 12-year-old reached the crosswalk, they pushed the button to activate the lights. At this time, reports stated that the 82-year-old was around 365 feet away from the crossing zone. When asked about the event, the 82-year-old told the authorities that she saw the flashing lights and began to slow down. For reasons that remain unclear, she did not stop at the crosswalk, a fact which resulted in her colliding with the 12-year-old. The 82-year-old told authorities that they did not see the child at any point during the events.

As a result of the incident, the driver was handed a ticket requesting that she pay $169 due to her failure to stop at a crosswalk. The driver was also instructed to take a new driver’s license exam in order to demonstrate their ability to safely pilot a car along the road. Other than that, the findings of the investigation indicated that there was no reason to believe that the 82-year-old was operating their vehicle in an unsafe or reckless manner.

After the incident, members of the community banded together in order to demand a change to the intersection. One of the primary requests is for the yellow flashing lights at the crosswalk to be changed to red lights. It is believed that if this change is made that people will actually stop rather than roll through the crosswalk.

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.