A woman died Tuesday after being hit by a vehicle while unloading her own car parked along a busy La Jolla street.
The deadly accident happened just before noon in the 7700 block of Girard Avenue, across the street from Nosh Delicatessen and Orange Theory Fitness.
The victim was in the process of unloading her car when a 91-year-old driver backed out of a nearby parking spot on the west side of the street, crossed into the other side and rammed into the woman, San Diego Police Department Sgt. Joe A. Benavidas said.
She was then pinned between the moving vehicle and the back of her parked car, officials said.
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The woman, identified only as a 45-year-old La Jolla resident, was taken to a local hospital but died on the way there.
Benavidas said the elderly driver remained on scene and was being questioned by police. The fatal crash is under investigation, but speed likely played a factor, he said.
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Benavidas said investigators believe the victim was on her way to a coin shop in the area, as she had unloaded a box of coins from the trunk of her car before the accident.
Her name has not yet been released, pending notification of her family. The accident is considered under investigation only with no specific charges filed.
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San Diego police officers shut down traffic on Girard Avenue for several hours after the accident.
This stretch of Girard Ave is what residents call a difficult dance in the afternoons between shoppers and heavy traffic.
“This Silverado and Girard intersection is always busy with foot traffic and cars. You always have to watch what you are doing when you are walking across the street," said resident Justin Rowley.
Backing out of the diagonal parking spaces into northbound or southbound traffic can be dangerous any day but on Tuesday it proved deadly.
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Those here daily say fender benders, honking horns and near misses are all the usual in the village district , but a death on an ordinary afternoon shopping trip is a most extraordinary tragedy.
