An 82-year-old woman died Thursday morning after being struck by a vehicle on the 6300 block of Castor Avenue in Oxford Circle, authorities said.
Antoinette Pifani, who lived on the 6000 block of Alma Street, was hit just after 6 a.m. while crossing Castor, police said. Medics transported her to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, where she died at 7:30 a.m., according to authorities.
Police said the driver remained at the scene.
Nilesh Tailor said he has been advocating for years for the installation of a light and a crosswalk where Castor intersects with Robbins Avenue.
It’s a popular place for people to cross, with a post office, Dunkin’ Donuts and Bushrod Library all on the block and Tarken Recreation Center just down the street, he said.
The closest current signals, at Devereaux Avenue and Levick Street, aren’t synced up, he added, making it dangerous even for drivers.
“There’s been tons of car accidents,” said Tailor, who lives on the 1400 block of Robbins.
He’s recommended a motion-sensor light that only changes when a car is waiting on Robbins. However, Tailor said city and state departments have conducted studies saying the intersection doesn’t meet the requirements for a traffic signal.
“I reached out to everyone that I could, but I don’t know how to make this happen so that another fatality doesn’t occur, another accident doesn’t occur,” he added. ••
