Car hits two elderly pedestrians near PK Park Friday night
EUGENE, Ore. -- Two pedestrians were hit by a vehicle on Martin Luther King Blvd. which blocked part of the roadway near PK Park Friday night, police said.
Emergency crews responded to a crash on MLK Boulevard involving a vehicle and two pedestrians at around 6:40 p.m. Friday evening. In a press release Eugene Emerald's officials said that the two pedestrians were crossing MLK to get to a baseball game at PK Park, the baseball field near Autzen Stadium.
The two pedestrians, Elane and Charles Stewart (ages 85 and 90 respectively) of Eugene were struck by a silver Dodge Intrepid while crossing MLK from the Masonic Lodge to the north entrance of PK Park.
The driver of the Dodge was 52-year-old Todd Miller of Cottage Grove. The driver's daughter, who was in the vehicle at the time of the crash, said "My father slammed on the brakes to stop from hitting them."
The Stewarts are a married couple who were dedicated members of the Masonic Lodge family.
Ron Lasalle is a past member and parking attendant for the Masonic Lodge. He said that he saw the couple at almost every Em's game.
"Since they're a part of the Masonic family it has a lot of us shook up. It's kind of tough to take when you see your own people hurt." said Lasalle.
Eugene Police said that both Elane and Charles were in stable condition at a local hospital.
There are no scheduled crosswalks allowing pedestrians across MLK near the scene of the crash.
Emergency crews closed down one lane of traffic in each direction around the crash while they cleared the scene.
Eugene Emeralds General Manager Allan Benavides issued this statement following the Emeralds game Friday night, regarding two fans struck by a car before the game:
The Emeralds organization is deeply saddened to learn of two fans, Elaine and Charles Stewart, who were struck by a moving vehicle before the start of the final game of the season. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and all affected by the accident. The Emeralds season came to a close Friday night, but our heart is not on the field, but rather with the Stewart family.
driving down main street in springfield last night at 10:00 pm didnt even see the guy in the black shorts and hoody until I barely missed him jay walking across main in the middle of the block.
Last week people were complaining about elderly drivers. So they took to walking and look what happened!
Sounds like another case of someone driving with their eyes fixed on the hood ornament that isn't there anymore. The last time I checked eye exams were necessary. It would be interesting to see how far these people were into the roadway. It would be interesting to know the speed of the vehicle. It would be interesting to know the visibility conditions. It would be interesting to know if there were any other obstructions that would have prevented this driver from seeing danger ahead. It would be interesting to know all the factors that contribute to these types of accidents. I am certain that the age of the persons struck would indicate they would not be sprinting across the road. There is so much we don't know, but I would bet that speed, inattention or distraction played a part in this. Also most drivers with any awareness at all would have noticed that on a game night at PK there would be the possibility of increased peril in the area which would require a greater defensive driving posture. Now there will be more knee jerk reaction requiring more crosswalks, traffic control signals, etc. etc. Also with the enactment of no smoking on U of O property, there will be a considerable number of people crossing MLK to get to a safe zone to smoke. Safe zone does not sound correct here, should have said no ticket zone. I am not a smoker, but I have never been against or minded that someone is doing something they enjoy if it is legal, and the last time I checked smoking is legal and taxes are collected on the products. Now how did all this come together on the topic of two people getting hit by a car. Just looking at the possible future developments.
Pedestrians fault no doubt.
MLK near Autzen, PK Park and all the way back to The Cooler and down to the apartment complexes is a Very long distance with few marked crosswalks.  Of course, the number of fans who would actually use marked crosswalks is a rather small number, too.Â