Woman Struck While Crossing Lancaster Drive in Salem

"There was an elderly lady crossing the crosswalk and just as she came into the median the truck came in and hit her, just didn't look at the crosswalk, wasn't paying attention, she was it." - Joseph Houdeshell, Dutch Brothers Coffee employee

Photo and video by Jerry Freeman Salem-News.com

(SALEM) - A woman was struck by a car Thursday night around 9:00 p.m. on Lancaster Drive NE at D Street, as she crossed from west to east. Two witnesses at the scene spoke to Salem-News and described how the driver struck the woman while she was legally crossing the road.

Emalee Brown, a customer in the Dutch Brothers drive-through, said, "I was sitting at Dutch Brothers and there was a lady walking in the crosswalk, and she hadn't really made it to the middle lane yet. The car was coming from McDonald's when the light was red."

She said the woman was proceeding as the crosswalk indicated "walk".

"As she was walking, the car came and hit her and I looked and I thought it was a bag of balloons, but it was her and I saw her hit the ground, and she hit the ground pretty hard."

Another witness, Joseph Houdeshell, who works at Dutch Brothers Coffee, said, "There was an elderly lady crossing the crosswalk and just as she came into the median the truck came in and hit her, just didn't look at the crosswalk, wasn't paying attention, she was it."

Houdeshell added, "The truck kind of carried her and she pifeted off the ground probably moving about 15 yards or so."

The driver who struck the pedestrian was driving a large SUV style Chevrolet truck. Witnesses say the driver immediately stopped after the woman was struck. The injured woman was transported to the hospital.