A driver trevelling south on Maple Avenue passes other cars waiting to turn left onto Reckless Place near the crosswalk where a pedestrian was struck on December 13. (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)
By BRIAN DONOHUE
In the same week that the Asbury Park Press reported a near doubling of pedestrian fatalities in Monmouth County over the past year, Red Bank saw its latest incident involving a driver striking a pedestrian in a crosswalk Friday.
The unnamed pedestrian sustained a possible fractured collar bone and an ear injury after being struck while walking across Maple Avenue at Reckless Place in the crosswalk shortly before 3 pm, Red Bank Police Chief Mike Frazee. A 67-year-old driver from Little Silver was charged with careless driving and failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, he added.
Frazee said the driver was headed south on Maple in a Hyundai Santa Fe when she passed several vehicles on the right, mistakenly thinking they were stopped to wait to make a left turn onto Reckless. The accident was investigated by Ptl. Milton Gray who is assigned to the department’s Traffic Safety Unit.
Just a few days earlier, the Asbury Park Press reported statistics from the New Jersey State Police showing 17 pedestrian deaths in Monmouth County in 2024, nearly double the nine pedestrian deaths in 2023. Updated statistics on the state police web site show the countywide total now stands at 20 for the year.
The spike in pedestrians killed comes amid an overall 30 percent increase in traffic fatalities over the previous year for the county and skyrocketing rates statewide.
The state police and county publish only fatal accident statistics on a regular basis. Statistics for overall pedestrian and traffic accidents, including non-fatalities specifically for Red Bank were not immediately available.
At least two pedestrian fatalities over the past year hit close to home for Red Bankers.
In May, Frank Luna-Santamaria, 20, of Red Bank died from injuries sustained when he was struck crossing Bridge Avenue just steps from his home on Herbert Street. The driver in that case has not been charged, a spokesman for the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office told redbankgreen in early October. He said at the time the investigation remained ongoing.
On August 5, Mariano Codallos-Tepepa, 20, an active parishioner at St. Anthony of Padua church who grew up in Red Bank was killed by a driver on Shrewsbury Avenue in Shrewsbury. Red Bank resident Jose Rodriguez-Jimenez, 40, was charged with one count of second-degree knowingly leaving the scene of an accident under certain circumstances in the incident.
In 2009, a Red Bank crossing guard was struck by a driver one block north of the scene of Friday’s incident, at the intersection of Maple and Peters Place
redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331 or yelling his name loudly as he walks by. Do you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen? Please become a financial supporter if you haven’t already. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.
