A 68-year-old woman was killed early Tuesday after a vehicle struck her in a northwest Streamwood neighborhood, police said. Officers arrived to find her unresponsive in the roadway near the intersection of Oak Knoll Court and Williamsburg Drive, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. A section of Williamsburg Drive was shut down for the morning while investigators documented the crash site and collected evidence.
According to ABC7 Chicago, Streamwood police were called just after 5 a.m. and have described the collision as accidental. The station reports that the victim's identity was not immediately released and that video from the scene shows several evidence markers scattered across the street.
Investigation and road closures
As reported by NBC Chicago, the Village of Streamwood's Public Safety Department said its Serious Traffic Accident Reconstruction Team is working alongside detectives to piece together what happened. Williamsburg Drive was closed between Boxwood Court and Sandhurst Court during the investigation, and authorities described the incident as isolated with no ongoing threat to the public.
Police ask for tips
Per the Streamwood Police Department, anyone with information is asked to call the department at 630-736-3700 or leave a message on the confidential tipline at 630-736-3719. The department also provides a general email, [email protected], for non-emergency inquiries.
Why older pedestrians are at risk
Local data and reporting show that older residents face an outsized risk in traffic crashes. People 70 and older are more than 1.7 times as likely to die in a traffic crash in Chicago, WTTW reported. Transportation studies and the Chicago Department of Transportation's annual crash reports point to vehicle speed, vehicle size and infrastructure gaps as key factors, and note that targeted safety projects such as protected lanes, raised crosswalks and speed-calming designs have helped reduce fatalities in some neighborhoods, Streetsblog Chicago found.
