Yesterday marked the third death of a bicyclist or pedestrian struck by a car in the last five days. a vehicle struck and killed a bicyclist or a pedestrian in San Jose on Wednesday while a pair of other crashes left two men fighting for their lives, triggering police warnings to motorists driving home during what is now a moonlit rush hour.
In the latest crash, a 67-year-old unidentified woman was hit on her left side by a Nissan Sentra while walking across the crosswalk of Jackson Avenue at Alexian Drive in East San Jose, police said. She died shortly after at the adjacent Regional Medical Center.
Police are now urging motorists who had been commuting home in the sunlight to be extra careful now that it is getting dark earlier, and ask those on foot and bike to wear reflective equipment and carry a flashlight. There have been four serious crashes during the evening rush hour in the three workdays since the clocks were set back an hour over the weekend.
Wednesday’s fatal crash happened at 6:35 p.m. Ten minutes later, a 54-year-old San Jose man was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries after being struck by a Honda while walking across Tully Road, police said. Remarkably, five minutes after that, a 44-year-old bicyclist from San Jose was hit by a Ford car on another section of Tully Road just a few blocks away, and police say he also may not survive.
The incidents come after an SUV fatally hit 58-year-old San Jose bicyclist Jingang Tan, who was riding across a West San Jose street at 6p.m. on Monday.
Before that, Jessenia Camacho-Torres, who was 20 and lived in San Jose, was struck by two cars and killed while walking across a South San Jose street on Saturday night.
In all five crashes, police have interviewed the drivers and have not made any arrests as they continue to try and figure out what caused the collisions.
Overall, the deadly five-day stretch pushed the total number of pedestrian and bicyclist deaths in San Jose this year from 11 to 14.
