76-Year-Old Cary Woman Killed by SUV on Ederlee Drive Near Symphony Lake

A 76-year-old Cary woman died Wednesday morning after a black SUV struck her on Ederlee Drive near Peregrine Place, just steps from the Symphony Greenway trail she likely knew well. Emergency crews responded to the scene shortly after 7 a.m., but first responders and bystanders who rushed to help could not save her. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim was identified as Soile Lazarz, a 76-year-old Cary resident, according to ABC11 News. The SUV driver was not injured, and the driver's children, who were passengers in the vehicle at the time, were also unharmed. Cary police are actively investigating the fatal pedestrian crash, and no charges have been filed as of the outlet's report.

Ederlee Drive between Regency Parkway and Peregrine Place was expected to remain closed through Wednesday afternoon while investigators processed the scene, and access to portions of the Symphony Greenway may also be limited during that time, the station's report noted. Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call the Cary Police Department's non-emergency line at (919) 469-4012.

A Corridor Cary Officials Already Flagged for Safety Fixes

The stretch of Ederlee Drive where Lazarz died sits near Symphony Lake and the greenway network that Ederlee connects to Regency Parkway. According to Mayor Harold Weinbrecht's blog, the town's Spot Traffic Safety Program had already scheduled crosswalk enhancements along that corridor, including updated pavement markings and warning signage near the greenway crossing — meaning local officials had identified this exact area as a priority safety concern before Wednesday's crash.

Municipal communications also documented community complaints about excessive vehicle speeds and drag racing along Ederlee Drive near Regency Woods Place in the months leading up to summer 2026, per the mayor's blog. Cary Town Council has held work sessions addressing traffic speed concerns on municipal streets, though it remains unknown whether those speed complaints bear any relation to Wednesday's fatal crash.

What North Carolina Law Says About Driver Duty and Fault

North Carolina law places specific obligations on drivers when it comes to pedestrians. Under General Statutes Section 20-173, drivers must yield the right-of-way by slowing or stopping for pedestrians in a marked crosswalk or an unmarked intersection crosswalk when signals aren't operating, according to FindLaw. The law also bars trailing vehicles from passing any car that has stopped for a pedestrian at a crosswalk.

Separately, General Statutes Section 20-174 requires drivers to exercise due care to avoid hitting any pedestrian on any roadway, even when that pedestrian is crossing outside a marked or unmarked crosswalk, per the same source. That statute also requires drivers to sound their horn as a warning when necessary. It has not been established whether Lazarz was crossing at a marked location or elsewhere along Ederlee Drive.

The legal stakes surrounding fault findings are especially high in North Carolina. The state enforces pure contributory negligence, a rule that bars an injured pedestrian or a deceased pedestrian's estate from recovering civil damages if the pedestrian is found even 1% at fault for the crash, according to Riddle & Riddle Injury Lawyers. North Carolina is one of only four jurisdictions, along with Washington, D.C., that still follows this strict standard.

Part of a Wider Pattern on Wake County Roads

Wednesday's crash adds to a grim toll across the region. Wake County logged 33,284 traffic crashes in 2024, resulting in 94 fatalities, 21 of them pedestrians, according to data compiled by ThatCarHitMe. Statewide, North Carolina Department of Transportation records show 1,732 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2024, with annual pedestrian deaths consistently exceeding 200 statewide in recent years.

Vehicle speed plays an outsized role in whether pedestrians survive being struck. A pedestrian hit by a vehicle traveling 40 mph faces an 80% probability of death, compared to a 50% fatality risk at 30 mph and just 5% at 20 mph, according to Vision Zero data from the City of Raleigh Transportation Department. It is not known how fast the SUV involved in Wednesday's crash was traveling.

Cary has seen this kind of tragedy before. Hoodline reported that a pedestrian was struck and killed in a morning collision along SW Maynard Road in Cary in September 2025. The Town of Cary Police Department's South District, which covers Regency Parkway, Ederlee Drive, and the Koka Booth Amphitheatre area, operates under a Stratified Policing model with a dedicated Traffic Safety Team responsible for crash investigations and targeted enforcement, according to the Town of Cary. The crash investigation remains ongoing, and key details — including whether Lazarz was crossing at a designated greenway connector, the SUV's exact speed, and whether lighting or sightlines played a role — have not yet been made public.