Driver Struck and Killed Teenager on South Commercial Yesterday Afternoon

Late yesterday afternoon, a person driving south on Commercial Street struck and killed a teenager trying to cross Commercial in an area with very few signalized crossings.

From Salem PD:

Salem Police are on the scene of a serious injury crash involving a motor vehicle and a pedestrian on Commercial St SE near Royvonne Ave SE.

The investigation is currently underway, and the southbound lanes of Commercial St are closed from Keglers Ln SE to Boone Rd SE. Please avoid the area if possible. If you must travel south on Commercial, traffic is being detoured southbound on Sunnyside Rd SE, then back to Commercial St on Kuebler Blvd.

No further information on the crash is available at this time. Further information will be released as it becomes available.

Police investigate crash near Royvonne and Commercial SE
Shatamera Pruden later died from her injuries (Photo: Salem PD)

And late last night, the update with the saddest news:

Salem Police Officers were dispatched to Commercial St SE and Royvonne Ave SE at 5:55 pm this afternoon on a report of a vehicle/pedestrian crash.

Officers arrived to find that 14-year old Shatamera Pruden had been struck by a southbound vehicle as she was crossing the street. She was transported to Salem Health where she later died of her injuries.

The investigation has shown that Shatamera had been crossing Commercial St in an westerly direction when she was struck by a southbound FJ Cruiser. Shatamera had been crossing north of the intersection of Commercial St and Royvonne in an area without a crosswalk. The driver of the vehicle, 31-year old Zane Hilton, was not injured and remained at the scene and cooperated with the investigation.

There have been no arrests or citations and the investigation is continuing.

The area is near Winco, Goodwill, a pet store, and a bottle redemption center. Signalized crosswalks are not frequent here. There are also many ambiguous intersections where driveways look like a street but may not meet the legal definition of an unmarked crosswalk. The nearest signalized crosswalk north is at Kegler, and the nearest one south is at Kuebler, nearly a half-mile apart - so at the mid-point, that's nearly five minutes of walking on Commercial to reach a crosswalk with paint and a signal. This profoundly disadvantages people on foot.

Median (orange) meant to prohibit
east-west crossing along Boone farther south

At Royvonne there is a median on Commercial and a "pork chop" at the pet store, as left-turns across traffic have clearly been a problem. The work on Kuebler near Boon is creating a similar median and road configuration.

Could be a teenager, could be a person with a walker

Many of our projects to reduce congestion and improve capacity, even those meant to improve autoist safety, have as a consequence made things worse for people on foot, and fatalities like this are collateral costs we seemingly accept.

Buffered bike lanes and enhanced crosswalk near Waldo Ave SE

The safety crossings that came out of the Commercial-Vista Study farther north are meant to mitigate at least some of this kind of problem, and they should be considered farther down on Commercial as well.

A little over a week ago, Salem Police announced their summer crosswalk campaign:

As the weather becomes warmer and days become longer, we typically see more pedestrians out and about at various times of the day and night. It is in these conditions that pedestrian safety issues become even more important. As a result, the Salem Police Department traffic unit will be conducting pedestrian safety enforcement and education campaigns throughout the city during the summer months.

The campaigns will utilize plain clothes officers who will be crossing streets at crosswalk locations all over Salem. Video cameras will be used to record violations. Those who are contacted will be able to view the violation on video.

Oregon law requires all drivers to stop prior to entering a crosswalk for pedestrians who are crossing the street in a marked or unmarked crosswalk. Drivers are required to stop if a pedestrian is either in the lane in which the driver's vehicle is traveling or in a lane adjacent to the lane in which the driver's vehicle is traveling.

Marked crosswalks may be located at or between intersections and are recognized by solid or dashed white lines. Oregon law also states every intersection should be considered to have a crosswalk, whether marked or not.

Additionally, a vehicle may not legally pass another vehicle that is stopped at a marked or unmarked crosswalk for a pedestrian. Failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk and for passing a stopped vehicle at a crosswalk are Class B violations and carry a fine of up to $260.00.

This summer safety campaign is in partnership with the organization, Oregon Impact, in order to address pedestrian and crosswalk safety through education and enforcement.

The road design on South Commercial here makes it doubly difficult: It is difficult for people on foot to find safe crossing, and nothing about the road design sends any cues to people in cars that they should be looking for people on foot. In this environment, even education and enforcement activity by Police has limited utility. We need our road design to convey a better message.

Update, July 6th

There's a nice profile of Pruden and of her mother's advocacy on the front page today. It also includes a picture of a person crossing  - playing frogger, really - at this site.

Killed in 2017

• Srabonti Haque
• Sandra Hill 

Killed in 2016:

• Olivia Stroup
• Jaren Nash  
• Alex Armes
• Anthony Earnest  
• Baxter Harrell
• Unknown (just outside Salem)
• Bradley Goad (in Silverton)

Killed in 2015:

• James Alton
• Caroline Storm
• William Hatch 
• Travis Lane
• David McGregor  
• Michael and Christine Crossland 
• Rebecca Schoff