A 64-year-old woman has died after a hit-and-run driver struck her while she was crossing Ashby Avenue near Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley on Tuesday night, and the driver did not stop. The crash was reported at Ashby Avenue and Regent Street shortly before 6:40 p.m., setting off an hours-long emergency response and a street closure that shut down a stretch of one of Berkeley's busiest corridors.
According to The Berkeley Scanner, authorities said a dark-colored SUV traveling west on Ashby Avenue struck the woman as she crossed and then kept driving, leaving her in the roadway. Emergency dispatches indicated she had no pulse and was not breathing, with CPR underway as first responders worked to save her. The outlet's early reporting had described a woman in her 60s as critically injured in the crash, but the report was later updated to confirm her death.
Frantic Scene as Firefighters Shut Down Ashby Avenue
Berkeley firefighters responded to the crash scene and requested the closure of Ashby Avenue at Telegraph Avenue as crews worked to stabilize the victim. CPR remained underway in the ambulance as she was taken Code 3 — with lights and sirens — to Highland Hospital in Oakland just before 6:50 p.m., the same report states. Police issued a closure alert at 7:40 p.m. for Ashby between Hillegass and Telegraph while investigators processed the scene.
The Berkeley police Fatal Accident Investigation Team, which handles serious crashes as well as fatal ones, responded to take over the investigation, the report notes. No further details about the driver, the vehicle, or how the crash occurred have been released in connection with Tuesday's case.
Another Recent Hit-and-Run Just Blocks Away
This is not the first hit-and-run reported at the Ashby Avenue and Regent Street intersection. In a separate incident documented by the same outlet, a woman was struck while walking on Ashby Avenue, though in that case police said the driver remained at the scene for the investigation.
Berkeley has also seen other recent pedestrian hit-and-runs that left victims badly hurt. In October, two visitors from Spain — a 78-year-old man and a 75-year-old woman — were severely injured in a suspected hit-and-run at University Avenue and Eighth Street, according to ABC7 News. Police said preliminary information indicated the couple was crossing in the eastern crosswalk when a dark-colored sedan traveling east struck them. Within days, Berkeleyside reported that police had arrested a 22-year-old Richmond man on suspicion of two felony hit-and-run counts in that case, using surveillance footage, automated license plate readers, and a statement from what police called “an alert witness” to identify him.
A Rise in Serious and Fatal Crashes Citywide
Tuesday's death comes amid a troubling trend in Berkeley traffic safety data. The city recorded 564 injury crashes in 2024, a six-year high, and four people were killed in traffic crashes that year, up from none in 2023, according to a Berkeleyside review of Berkeley Police Department data. Serious or fatal injuries made up roughly 13% of injury crashes in both 2023 and 2024, and unsafe speed remained the most common primary collision factor.
The same analysis found that the intersection of Ashby and San Pablo avenues was Berkeley's top collision location in 2024, logging 16 crashes, 10 of which caused injuries, for 17 total injuries that year. The city set a goal back in 2019 of eliminating traffic fatalities and severe injuries entirely by 2028, a target that Tuesday's deadly crash underscores remains far from reach.
The Berkeley Scanner's report indicates it will be updated as additional details become available, including any information on the driver or vehicle involved. No arrest has been announced in connection with Tuesday's crash.
