A Warning to Use Crosswalks After a Boise Pedestrian is Struck and Killed

A Boise woman was walking outside of a crosswalk when she was struck and killed by a car on West Overland Road last week, and that has sparked the reminder to use crosswalks when you're walking around town.  

The Ada County coroner said Friday that Anna M. Lay was the person struck and killed last Wednesday around 7 pm when she was hit by a driver as she was walking north across Overland just west of Five Mile. She was 54 years old.

KTVB said she was rushed to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, where life-saving measures were unsuccessful and she was pronounced dead less than an hour after the accident.  The coroner lists blunt force injuries as the cause of death and lists the manner of death as accidental.

The driver stopped and cooperated with police, and so far no charges have been filed. Investigators say Lay was not in a crosswalk when she was hit.

How many times have you walked across a Boise street thinking you'll dart across real quick and everything will be fine?  Dozens!  Me too. But crosswalks are there for a reason, and this is a huge reminder to stay in them.  I always tell the kids (who seem to be born with a mechanism that causes them to dart) that cars aren't expecting to see them if they're not in a crosswalk.  It's not clear why Anna Lay wasn't in a crosswalk, but the investigation is continuing.

My heart hurts for Anna Lay and her family, and for the driver too.  Even if it wasn't the driver's fault and no charges are filed, that would be a lot to live with.