The driver of a vehicle that hit two pedestrians in Bethesda last week was using her cellphone at the time of the crash, according to police.
The 20-year-old woman from Herndon, Va., was using a cellphone when she struck two women crossing Wisconsin Avenue at Middleton Lane, county police spokeswoman Rebecca Innocenti said. She did not elaborate on how the driver was using the phone or disclose her name.
The driver was charged with failure to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk, failure to exercise due care to avoid a pedestrian collision, failure to control vehicle speed on a highway to avoid a collision, negligent driving and reckless driving, Innocenti said.
She did not have an update on the victims’ conditions.
After several years of community advocacy, the Maryland State Highway Administration said this week it will install a pedestrian crossing signal at the intersection where the crash occurred. Installation is expected to begin in “late winter 2020.”
Pedestrians will need to push buttons installed at the crosswalk to activate a set of flashing “beacons,” intended to “increase motorist awareness of pedestrians that are present at the crosswalks,” SHA said.
Through Aug. 13, there had been 333 pedestrian- or bicyclist-involved crashes on roads in Montgomery County.
