A woman in her late 70s was struck and killed by a vehicle while crossing Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood late Friday night, authorities said. The collision happened near the intersection with Malcolm Avenue at about 10:10 p.m. The driver took off before officers arrived, and emergency crews pronounced the woman dead at the scene.
The crash was reported at 10:10 p.m. on Wilshire Boulevard at Malcolm Avenue, according to a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman, as reported by MyNewsLA. The spokesman said the woman was crossing outside a marked crosswalk when she was hit by a vehicle traveling southwest on Wilshire. No description of the vehicle was immediately available.
Wilshire is a high-injury corridor
Wilshire Boulevard is part of the city’s Vision Zero High Injury Network, the relatively small share of streets that account for most of Los Angeles fatal and severe traffic collisions, and it has been a focus of safety upgrades by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. LADOT says Vision Zero prioritizes tools such as revised signal timing, clearly marked crosswalks and lane reconfiguration in an effort to reduce pedestrian deaths.
Recent crashes have amplified local concerns
Westwood has already seen high-profile crashes this year, including a February incident in which a vehicle plowed into a 99 Ranch Market and killed three people, a reminder of how dangerous busy commercial stretches can be. The Los Angeles Times reported on that crash and city leaders' response, highlighting mounting pressure for faster safety fixes on corridors such as Wilshire.
Investigators are continuing to look into Friday’s hit-and-run. No arrests have been reported and detectives have not released any description of the vehicle involved, according to MyNewsLA. The Los Angeles Police Department had not provided additional details to the public as of Saturday evening.
