ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – St. Louis County police are investigating multiple fatal hit-and-runs cases, including one at an intersection known for crashes.
Residents living near the intersection of St. Charles Rock Road and Normandy Drive say a deadly hit-and-run is the latest tragedy in a string of accidents in that area.
“Slow down,” said Carrie Lige, a St. Louis County resident. “It’s not worth somebody’s life.”
According to the St. Louis County Police, the crash occurred around 2:50 a.m. on Tuesday. Investigators said the victim was an adult male. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. The driver left the scene and has not been identified.
“We need to be taking care of each other, not banging into each other,” said Pastor Yarner Marty.
Marty’s church, Pentecostal Church the Redeemer, is located a few feet from the intersection. He said cars often go over the 35 mph speed limit on St. Charles Rock Road.
“They go sometimes 50, 60, and even 70 (mph) like it’s a highway,” Marty said.
Trailnet, a local non-profit focused on creating safer transportation in the St. Louis area, has found St. Charles Rock Road to be a site of many crashes. The agency reported that since 2015, a total of 59 pedestrians have been struck by vehicles. Six of those crashes resulted in a fatality, and 47 were personal injury crashes.
The nonprofit has found that in 2021, wide high-speed, arterial-style roads, like St. Charles Rock Road, are the most dangerous for people walking in St. Louis County. Eighty-seven percent of pedestrian fatalities were on arterial roads, and 95 percent of pedestrian fatalities were on roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or higher.
Trailnet believes measures such as lane reductions, traffic calming, protected bike infrastructure, and bus priority lanes can improve safety on the roads.
“Something needs to be done,” Marty said. “People are dying.”
This was not the first person killed along St. Charles Rock Road this year, according to Trailnet. Two people have been killed while walking along St. Charles Rock Road. In August, a person was killed near Lackland Road. The other person was killed in June on St. Charles Rock Road at the entrance to the Schnucks and Home Depot.
