A grieving family wants to see changes made to a Prince George’s County intersection where their mother was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver.
Ask Patricia Hart’s family what they remember about her, and one of the first things that comes to mind is her sense of humor.
“She always had a bubbly spirit. She was always on joke time,” her daughter, Jackie Wilson, said.
But on Thursday evening, as Hart was on her way home from a Metro station, she was struck and killed by a driver who didn’t stop at the intersection of Naylor Road and the Suitland Parkway.
“She was coming from visiting one of her friends ‘cause she was getting prepared to go to a funeral service the next day,” Wilson said.
Family members said they didn’t learn about her death until the day after it happened.
“Suitland Parkway and Naylor Road is one of the busiest and deadliest intersections, especially for pedestrians,” Wilson said.
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There were more than 40 crashes at the intersection last year, and it is indeed heavily used and especially dangerous for pedestrians. Suitland Parkway lies between the Naylor Road station and several Southeast D.C. neighborhoods.
The intersection is sorely in need of some pedestrian infrastructure, much like what’s been done a mile up the road at Stanton Road. There, cameras deter speeding, there is lots of lighting, and a wide island creates a safer place for crossing pedestrians. Covered traffic lights are also on the way.
Hart’s family and others would like to see similar improvements at Naylor Road. In the meantime, her children just want to know why their mother died, and why the driver didn’t stop.
“She’s well-loved and well-respected. I’m just in shock. I’m out of words right now,” Ricky Hart, one of Hart’s sons, said.
“My mom was loved by the people around here. She’d also give charity to the people, anybody that come to the house that wanted something to eat, or whatever,” Hart's son Johnny Wilson said.
And as U.S. Park Police investigate the hit-and-run crash that killed her, they urge others to take care at the crossroads where she died.
“My mother shouldn’t be another victim to this intersection,” Wilson said.
