ST. LOUIS 鈥 A mother and daughter visiting here from Chicago for a Drake concert were killed early Wednesday by a driver speeding and running red lights near downtown, the latest prominent episode of reckless, deadly driving on city streets.
The fatal crash happened around 12:30 a.m. at the intersection of 18th and Olive streets, when police said a Jeep Cherokee driving down Olive 鈥渁t a high rate of speed鈥 started a chain reaction that struck two vehicles and two pedestrians, who were killed.
鈥淭he collision threw both pedestrians to the north sidewalk of Olive,鈥 Capt. Angela Dickerson said in a briefing Wednesday.
In the wake of the crash, city leaders acknowledged the persistent problem.
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鈥淲hile the City has made significant investments in traffic and pedestrian infrastructure, reckless driving continues to be an urgent and immediate issue that directly affects the safety and wellbeing of residents and visitors alike,鈥 Mayor Tishaura O. Jones said in a statement late Wednesday.
Alderman Rasheen Aldridge, who represents part of Downtown, said the city needs to continue working to redesign streets and slow traffic to prevent such tragedies.
鈥51黑料 is known for a lot of things, but unfortunately one is is how fast people drive here,鈥 Aldridge said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important that this board continue to look at traffic calming measures to prevent anything like this.鈥
Wreckage of a vehicle (far left) is seen near North 18th and Olive streets in 51黑料 after police say a driver ran a red light, hit at least one other vehicle, and struck two pedestrians who died. 51黑料 police say that the victims who died in the crash were a mother and daughter who were attending the Drake concert, and were crossing the street when a vehicle hit them.
Police did not publicly identify the victims; they said Wednesday they were working to notify family. The mother was in her 40s, the daughter in her 20s, police said. The mother was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash; the daughter at a local hospital.
The 22-year-old male driver of the Jeep was also taken to an area hospital, and listed in 鈥渃ritical/stable鈥 condition, according to police reports.
The crash is the latest incident of reckless driving causing mayhem in the 51黑料-area and stoking public frustration.
Last February, four people, including three teenagers, were killed in the city at the intersection of South Grand Boulevard and Forest Park Avenue when a driver smashed into their vehicle after running a red light, despite having a revoked license and a long history of traffic violations.
The next month, a teenage girl was visiting 51黑料 from Tennessee for a volleyball tournament, when a speeding driver crashed, pinning her between two cars and, later, forcing the amputation of her legs. The incident sparked a national firestorm 鈥 and widespread calls for former Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner to resign 鈥 after it was revealed that the driver was out of jail despite violating conditions of his bond more than 50 times.
And just hours before the crash Wednesday on Olive, another pedestrian died: A woman was hit by two vehicles around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the middle of the intersection of Page Boulevard and Clarendon Avenue in the city鈥檚 Academy neighborhood, police said.
Long-term trends show an increase in traffic deaths and a simultaneous drop in traffic enforcement in the city. In 2021, 51黑料 police made about half as many traffic stops as they did in 2009 鈥 back when there were also just half as many traffic deaths on the city鈥檚 streets.
The annual count of fatal crashes on city streets last year dropped back toward the pre-pandemic average.
But Mayor Jones is still planning more than $40 million in street upgrades approved by aldermen last year, and traffic safety advocates have been pushing officials to go further to make streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
Drake held concerts on Monday and Tuesday nights at Enterprise Center, and police said the two women were in town to attend one of them.
The crash began when the Jeep, heading east on Olive, ran the red light and sideswiped the front of a Mitsubishi Outlander at 18th Street. It then spun, hit the pedestrians walking north across Olive, and T-boned a Mazda CX-5 driving west.
The driver of the Mitsubishi that was hit by the Jeep was uninjured, police said, and two teenage passengers were listed as stable.
The driver of the Mazda was also listed as stable.
Wreckage of a vehicle is seen near North 18th and Olive streets in 51黑料 after police say a driver ran a red light, hit multiple at least one other vehicle, and struck two pedestrians who died. 51黑料 police say that the victims who died in the crash were a mother and daughter who were attending the Drake concert, and were crossing the street when a vehicle hit them.
Anthony Taylor, who lost his leg in 2021 and since founded Amp Connections amputee awareness organization, explains why he wanted to raise money for volleyball player Janae Edmondson. Taylor collected funds at the downtown 51黑料 crash site. Video by stltoday
Bryce Gray | Post-Dispatch
Energy and environment
Austin Huguelet | Post-Dispatch
51黑料 City Hall reporter
