9-year-old girl, mother hospitalized after hit-and-run in Roxborough: police
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A 9-year-old and her mother were hit by a car while crossing the street. The driver kept going and then crashed into a building. The driver then ran away.
The mother is in critical condition, her daughter is in stable condition. Both were taken to Albert Einstein Hospital. Meanwhile, at the scene in Roxborough, there's little surprise that there was an accident at this intersection.
Just past noon on Friday, roughly 300 to 400 feet beyond the traffic light at Walnut Lane and Henry Avenue, a 2010 Nissan Maxima struck the mother and daughter in front of one of Philadelphia's most loved cheesesteak stops, Dalessandro's.
"It's like a tourist destination," Matthew Melnick said. "And they really need to have a light right here or crosswalk."
"It's tragic that something like this happens," George Mathes said. "It could have been avoided."
"I'm from around here, maybe put a stop sign there to help out," Nick Thomas said. "But it's really unfortunate what happened today. I'm really keeping those people in my prayers."
As if the accident itself wasn't bad enough, the driver of the Maxima then lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a building on Henry Avenue. He then fled the scene, leaving two female passengers in the car. Both were transported to Einstein with minor injuries.
The consensus from those CBS Philadelphia spoke to and from the countless people we saw make that same dangerous trek across Henry Avenue is that something needs to be done because it's just an accident waiting to happen.
"We've tried to cross here and it took us like 10 minutes to cross the street," Melnick said. "Cars are flying up and down here constantly."
For now, the hope is just that the injured mother and daughter have a full recovery.