WASHINGTON — A man died after being struck by a car in a collision that closed Georgia Avenue in Wheaton, Maryland, early Friday morning, the Montgomery County police said.
Police identified the pedestrian who was struck as 41-year-old Mauricio Leonidas Correra, of Silver Spring. He was hit at the intersection with Reedie Drive, and is the third pedestrian killed in a crash this month on Georgia Avenue in the Wheaton area.
On Tuesday, Tierno Siradiou Bah, 69, of Silver Spring, was struck and died as he tried to cross Georgia Avenue on the southbound side between Glenallen Avenue and Urbana Drive.
A week earlier, on Aug. 14, Leonel A. Reyes, 58, of Silver Spring was struck and died as he tried to cross Georgia Avenue at Veirs Mill Road.
Cassie McIntyre, who lives across the street from the site of the crash, said two factors are contributing to the spate of pedestrian deaths: “A lot of it is disregard for the crosswalks and for pedestrian right-of-way, and then another thing would have to be speed.”
There are four lanes of traffic at that intersection, and McIntyre said “People will turn their cars into the crosswalk and come very close to pedestrians in the crosswalk, and wait for us to clear their way – and then just continue driving. But they get very close to hitting you.”
She added that people “easily” drive 50 to 60 mph on Georgia Avenue, “and it’s a residential area. The only time it’s not that fast is when there’s a lot of congestion.”
Authorities received a call about Friday’s collision at 4:05 a.m. Southbound Georgia Avenue was closed at Price Avenue until about 10 a.m.; northbound Georgia Avenue, at Veirs Mill Road until nearly 9 a.m.
WTOP’s Kate Ryan and Jack Moore contributed to this report.
