A 52-year-old woman was reportedly killed Monday night near 48th and Chester during a hit and run accident involving an SUV with heavy front-end damage and the left rear brake light out, police confirmed.
The woman was crossing Chester Avenue when she was struck. She was pronounced dead at the scene, at about 10:35 p.m.
Anyone with information about the accident is asked to contact the Accident Investigation Division at 215-685-3180, the tip line at 215-686-TIPS (8477) or text a tip to PPDTIP (773847).
UPDATE: Police recovered the vehicle, a silver Trailblazer, on the 4700 block of Larchwood, according to 6ABC. A police officer reportedly followed leaked fluid and scrape marks from the accident scene east on Chester Avenue. A suspect in the accident has not yet been named.
December 3rd, 2012 at 11:35 pm
Will be interested to learn more. We live right on this intersection, but weren’t home at the time.
December 4th, 2012 at 12:02 am
Oh, this is so sad. My thoughts are with that woman’s family.
There are some awful drivers in West Philly who blow through stop signs and red lights and race around trolleys and buses all the time, and sometimes it seems like they purposely try to hit pedestrians- or at least are not on the lookout for anyone on the roads but themselves. That poor woman. I hope the cops take this very seriously and try to find the scumbag driver.
December 4th, 2012 at 1:06 am
This is so sad. I heard the sirens and the helicopters – I live just a few blocks away on 48th St. Cars race down 48th St. fairly frequently, often neglecting to come to a real stop at stop signs – it seems it’s become more frequent on this street over the past few years. My heart goes out to that poor woman and her family :/
December 4th, 2012 at 8:27 am
philly.com is reporting that they have found the car, but the driver had fled. Hopefully they can link it to the driver soon.
I don’t know if I can post links here, but here it is:
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Officer_follows_trail_of_fluid_scrapings_to_find_hit-and-run_SUV.html
December 4th, 2012 at 8:50 am
pedestrians dressed in darks colors crossing in front of you at night are almost invisible–especially when you are doing 50 on a residential street
December 4th, 2012 at 9:01 am
Horrible news and not surprising at all. This is a constant problem. My favorite are the people who blow through the stop signs and either smile, give you a thumbs up, or a middle finger up or a don’t mess with me glare as you stand there in a mix of fury and relief that you didn’t start across the street like you have every right to do. Live at 46th and Springfield and it happens all the time. I understand from neighbors that there used to be a stop light at the intersection but it was removed some years ago because neighbors complained of idling cars and loud radios from the stopped cars. Enforcement would help, too. If you don’t stop in the suburbs, you get ticketed. Here, even the police cruise through intersections and I’ve never seen anyone pulled over for failing to stop, even when it happens right in front of a cop. I could be way off here, and I know it. Does anyone in the policing community have any stats on how many drivers are pulled over for failing to stop at stop signs?
December 4th, 2012 at 9:28 am
The speeding, reckless driving, and running (or rabbit-stopping) stop signs needs to stop. In all of west Philly but 48th has become really bad. There needs to be enforcement but there also needs to be physical traffic calming too. 48th is a wide street. It looks like it is ok to drive fast. Cedar gets like that too, with drivers racing to pass the trolleys on Baltimore. We all need to make a stink with the city to get this fixed. My kids were hit by an SUV driver on 48th who did stop, briefly, but did not look before going again. They are fine but we were very lucky. I don’t want that to happen to your kids too.
December 4th, 2012 at 9:38 am
My condolences to the victim’s family. And I hope they catch this driver.
We need traffic cops. It would be great if we had cops out there who had the time to just enforce traffic laws. I’m talking about bad drivers and bikers, the whole caboodle.
I know the police have to prioritize their money and resources towards the serious crimes, but think about the revenues to the city as well as the affect on bad driving behavior, if they had someone out there whose main job was simply ticketing the drivers. Right now traffic operates on the honor code where drivers police themselves. It’s amazing it’s not complete anarchy out there.
In the mean time, everyone please be safe. Look both ways and trust no driver to care more about your life than they care about getting somewhere 15 seconds faster.
December 4th, 2012 at 10:42 am
I’m not saying that traffic issues are not a problem in West Philly (love the indignant peeling out following when there is a car approaching a stop sign and you have the nerve to cross at the crosswalk and actually make them stop at it) however, in this instance I’m guessing there was probably more at play. The way the driver fled the scene then abandoned the vehicle makes me think the likelihood was that they were drunk and/or high, in possession of illegal drugs/weapons or, who knows, maybe even stole the vehicle. But regardless of why this happened, this was a senseless killing and the loss of life is tragic.
December 4th, 2012 at 11:01 am
Editor’s note: This comment has been edited to delete graphic description out of respect for the memory of this woman and her family.
I was there, I live on the corner.
[graphic details deleted]
I am giving graphic details for people to understand and to fight against reckless and drunken driving. This behavior is intolerable. The penalties for leaving the scene of an accident should be much more severe than they currently are.
December 4th, 2012 at 11:36 am
Thank you for not including graphic details out of respect to family and friends. I’m sorry you had to witness it, but sorrier that it happened and right now loved ones are hurting. They don’t need to read about it in that way.
@Stacey – I totally agree. There has to be more, but I have faith that officials will find this person. The whole community is listening.
December 4th, 2012 at 12:16 pm
Does anyone know who to call/write regarding implementing traffic calming measures on Chester and Springfield?
December 4th, 2012 at 12:47 pm
This happened right by our house last night. My thoughts go out to the woman’s family. There needs to be more traffic enforcement. On a related note, the police department needs to clean up the scene of the accident. The sheets that were used to cover the poor woman’s body are still lying on the side of the street between 48th and 49th. Several complaints have been filed, but the police department does not seem to think that disposing of potentially hazardous materials is important.
December 4th, 2012 at 12:58 pm
Definitely an ongoing issue. You can always tell when folks are from out of town because they actually stop and then get honked at.
There was a separate incident Sunday night at 50 and Catharine. One car ran the stop sign and another car hit the utility pole trying to avoid them. I don’t know more specifics, but from the look of the vehicle it was more than a fender-bender.
Be safe and take a deep breath before all of our travels!
December 4th, 2012 at 1:20 pm
” You can always tell when folks are from out of town because they actually stop and then get honked at.”
The SUV involved has NY plates.
December 4th, 2012 at 4:01 pm
@Sara, where have complaints been filed? That’s horrible, but not a PD job.
December 5th, 2012 at 10:42 am
You are right Stephanie Heather. I was so traumatized by what I saw, that I didn’t keep in mind the family having to read the details. Thank you for editing my reply. May she rest in peace.
December 5th, 2012 at 10:48 am
@Alan- You can always call the Phila. Streets Dept.,Council Woman Blackwell’s office or the community relations officer of your district.
December 5th, 2012 at 10:55 am
Also, the stop signs are not prominently displayed in some areas. The signage should be across the street facing the oncoming cars. The stop signs are on the same corner where the cars are supposed to stop and can be overlooked.
December 5th, 2012 at 4:21 pm
“Live at 46th and Springfield and it happens all the time. I understand from neighbors that there used to be a stop light at the intersection but it was removed some years ago because neighbors complained of idling cars and loud radios from the stopped cars.”
There were also stoplights at Springfield & 48th, they were removed a few (5?) years ago. Drivers used to cross 49th going east, and then accelerate along Springfield to try and beat the lights at 48th. A young man was knocked down and killed at night, and then the lights were replaced by stop signs.
December 5th, 2012 at 6:09 pm
@LW: the traffic light at 46th & Springfield was not removed “…b/c neighbors complained about idling cars & loud radios…”. It was removed, along with the light at 48th & Springfield, because (at least theoretically) cars always have to slow down & stop when there’s a stop sign. Conversely, if there’s a traffic light at an intersection, cars tend to speed up to hurry through the intersection before the light turns red. If there’s a stop sign, there’s no reason for them to speed up. Traffic calming was the reason for the removal of the lights.
December 5th, 2012 at 10:40 pm
Melani, that’s what I thought. The ‘loud radio’ theory is quoted from dextertracy upthread.
December 7th, 2012 at 12:48 pm
Thank you all for your concern, thoughts, posts in this matter. I am a nephew of the victim and I really appreciate the edited posts so that my cousin will never have to read the horrific acts of violence that were done to her mother. God bless you all.