Residents speak out following fatal crash

Residents are seeking for safety improvements for their neighborhood after a fatal crash that occurred Thursday night.

At about 7:30 p.m. Thursday, a 54-year-old woman was hit by a pickup truck near Avenue C and Crane Street.

Yuma Police Department said the woman was hit while crossing the street and pushing a three-year-old girl in a stroller. Police added the three-year-old was thrown out of the way of the approaching truck.

Neighbors confirmed the three-year-old girl was the woman’s granddaughter and said it was a community effort when it came to saving the little girl.

Patricia Rodriguez, a nearby resident, said the three -year-old girl had begun to cross the street almost as if to come back home.

Rodriguez said she was the one who broke the news of the death to the woman’s daughter.

On Avenue C from 8th Street to 16th Street, there are at least three elementary schools, lots of pedestrians, and constant traffic, b ut not one stop sign within that one-mile radius.

Although the speed limit is 35 miles per hour, neighbors told News 11 that drivers speed up and down that street at all hours of the day.

Francisco Peralta has lived in the area for almost 12 years and said, “It’s very dark in the streets at night. You can’t really see much and over there where the accident occurred, there’s no stop sign, no stop light, nothing. The only thing that’s there, is just a crosswalk. And you could barely see that at night.”

Residents believe that the crosswalk area which they said the victim was hit, is an area that is not well lit.

Arizona Public Service officials said they had received a call to check on the lights because of an accident that had occurred .

Yuma police did not say if the driver was cited.

YPD advises anyone with information to contact them at 928-373-4700.