Allegedly distracted driver hits dog at Berkley crosswalk

BERKLEY — An unfortunate accident at a crosswalk in Berkley led to the death of a small dog.

According to the Berkley Public Safety Department, the incident took place at approximately 8:35 a.m. Wednesday, April 29, near Coolidge Highway and Harvard Road.

Berkley Public Safety Department Detective Lt. Andrew Hadfield stated that an officer was positioned near the intersection when a pedestrian was crossing the street from the east to the west across Coolidge. At this time, a vehicle driven by a 74-year-old Berkley man turned from Harvard northbound onto Coolidge, but didn’t yield to the walker.

“She tried to wave her arms to stop the vehicle. He did not see her and, at the last minute, she moved out of the way, but the car did strike the dog that she was walking,” he said.

Hadfield said an animal control officer arrived at the scene and transported the dog to a local vet, but the dog didn’t survive its injuries.

The officer initially checked on the woman before following and pulling over the driver near Coolidge and Wiltshire Road.

The driver told police he didn’t realize that he had hit anything. He was cited for careless driving, leaving the scene of an accident and failing to yield to a pedestrian.

The incident is a reminder, Hadfield said, that drivers need to be more careful and mindful when driving, especially at crosswalks and intersections, and that drivers need to take the time to clear blind spots before making their turns.

“I think this comes down to, in general, when we’ve had pedestrian accidents, is people are either distracted or during those turns where something might get obstructed in their field of vision — whether it’s interior parts of the car — but just taking that extra second to pause and remember that these things do happen, unfortunately,” he said. “It’s on us to prevent that and the only way we can do that is by slowing down and making sure that intersections and crosswalks are clear before we proceed.”