Fund started for mother, daughter; girl on bike hit; pedestrian fatality
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY — A city crowded with tourists and residents all trying to get where they’re going — on foot, by bicycle or in cars — can be a dangerous place.
Residents and summer visitors regularly complain about each other – motorists about pedestrians stepping into the street without looking and bicycle riders not heeding traffic laws, and pedestrians about drivers who don’t slow down or stop for them as they’re crossing the street.
Most of the time it is mutual aggravation, but during the busy summer season it can turn dangerous and even deadly.
Four people have been struck and injured by motor vehicles in three incidents over the course of a week.
A mother and daughter were struck by a van Aug. 6 while crossing the street at Atlantic Avenue and Fifth Street, suffering serious injuries.
Lyn Dorofee of Ocean City started a GoFundMe page, Sam & Ella Accident Fund, for her sister-in-law Samantha Marino and her daughter Ella following the accident.
According to information on the page, the mother and daughter waited for the light to turn green and the walk sign to appear before they started across. As they got to the middle of the street, a van making a left turn “plowed right into Sam and Ella.”
“Sam blocked her daughter as best she could but the van was already hitting them before anyone realized what happened,” Dorofee wrote on the page. “Sam went flying through the air and Ella was knocked unconscious.”
Dorofee reported that Marino suffered two broken ribs, road rash and bruises from her hip to her shoulder, while Ella suffered a concussion and road rash the length of her back.
“The emotional trauma is just as bad as the physical,” Dorofee wrote. “Sam has stated several times how lucky they are to be alive.”
Marino owns a cleaning company and is the sole provider for her daughter, with summer being the busiest time of year and when she makes the most money, according to the page. Due to her injuries, she cannot currently work, which is why Dorofee started the GoFundMe page, which had more than $3,000 at press time.
“By the time she’s feeling well enough to return to work, the summer people will have returned home and there won’t be any money to be made for her,” Dorofee stated. “The girls have a long road ahead of them while they’re healing — physically and emotionally — and I started this so that we can all raise some money to hold her over for the next couple of months while they’re healing and trying to make it through this nightmare they’re living.”
Fatality
According to the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office and Ocean City Police Chief Jay Prettyman, a 21-year-old woman was struck by a motor vehicle at about 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 11, at 26th Street and West Avenue.
The woman, identified as Katherine Lux, of New Hope, Pa., was transported to Shore Medical Center in Somers Point before being moved to the Regional Trauma Unit at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City, where she died the following afternoon as a result of her injuries.
Ocean City Public Information Officer Doug Bergen said there were extenuating circumstances that he could not discuss. The incident is under investigation. No charges have been filed against the driver, a 44-year-old Egg Harbor Township resident.
Car hits bicyclist
Another incident the following evening involved a car striking a bicyclist. According to Bergen, police reports indicate a 14-year-old riding in the alley between Wesley and Central avenues entered 29th Street without making sure there were no vehicles driving on the roadway.
The teen was struck and suffered abrasions on the ankle and elbow and complained of ankle pain, but was not transported to the hospital. The bicyclist was determined to be the cause of the accident.
“Casey’s Law” had roots in Ocean City
In recent years there have been at least three other fatal accidents involving motor vehicles and pedestrians in crosswalks in Ocean City.
On May 24, 2019, a motor vehicle struck two people crossing an intersection on Eighth Street and Bay Avenue. One victim, a 47-year-old male from Landsdale, Pa., died as a result of his injuries. The second victim, a 40-year-old female, was treated and released.
In January of that year, an 82-year-old Seaville woman died after she was hit by a car crossing Eighth Street by a 26-year-old driver from Sweetwater.
The accident prompted the city to reconfigure the intersection at Bay Avenue.
A pedestrian fatality in 2009 in Ocean City helped spur a new traffic law requiring drivers to make sure they remain stopped for pedestrians in marked crosswalks or who are crossing at intersections where there are no marked crosswalks.
What was called “Casey’s Law” went into effect on April 1, 2010, less than a year after the fatal accident.
Casey Feldman, 21, a senior at Fordham College and a summer resident of the resort, was hit by a vehicle while she was in a crosswalk at 14th Street and Central Avenue on July 17, 2009. She was on her way to her summer job. She died later than evening.
The law came after more than 150 pedestrian fatalities across New Jersey that year.
The Ocean City Police Department has always recommended drivers to be on the lookout for pedestrians, especially during the busy summer season. Pedestrians have the right of way in crosswalks, but they, too, are urged to be cautious when crossing the street to ensure drivers see them and are slowing down to let them pass safely.
The OCPD also warns bicycle riders that they have to obey the same laws as motor vehicles, including stopping at stoplights and stop signs and riding with traffic.