Wheelchair user asks for more safety measures, attentive driving after getting hit twice

MIDVALE — A Midvale woman is pleading for more safety measures after she was hit by a car twice in her neighborhood.

Andrea Anderson lives off 700 East near 6856 S. There is no crosswalk for east-west crossing between Winchester Street and Fort Union Boulevard. She’s asking for one.

Anderson does use the Utah Transit Authority Paratransit system but said she likes to use her chair to get her around town to run errands.

She said she was hit Monday heading down 700 East on the sidewalk, in her power chair. She said a car rammed into her twice when she was passing an entrance to a condo complex.

“I was going to pass one of these feeder streets and there was a truck there, and I thought I made eye contact with her, and then I went to pass her, and then she rammed into me and backed up and rammed into me again,” Anderson said.

It’s not the only time.

In December of 2022, Anderson was left with several broken bones after a car hit her while she crossed 700 East. She said in that case, she couldn’t ride down the sidewalk on the east side of the street because of overgrown bushes in the way.

“I went to cross 700 East, and I got struck by a vehicle because I couldn’t go down this side,” she said.

Anderson said her clavicle, ribs, and arm were broken, and she had a head injury.

“I live in constant fear that I’m going to be killed on one of these streets and especially this street,” she said.

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Anderson put an orange and neon yellow flag on her wheelchair after that crash. She said it’s hard to recover from the ordeal because she often feels invisible to drivers in the area.

“I’ll be getting ready to cross the street and people will see me and they’ll just be like, you know, blow me off and just cut right around in front of me,” she said.

She said she’s asked the city for a crosswalk to be added at 6856 S.

“I would receive responses that they get, apparently lots and lots of requests for crosswalks,” Anderson said.

City Manager Matt Dahl said Midvale has a process for that kind of request.

“We have city officials and even a resident participate in the committee that sort of looks at those things, because we have to make budgetary decisions,” Dahl said.

He said they encourage residents to make a formal request. He said they haven’t received one for this area.

“We’re open to collaborating with any residents who are interested in improving their streets in our community,” Dahl said.

Dahl said the city has worked with Anderson on other concerns she had.

“We have, over the course of several months, been in communication with this resident on 700 East. They have brought up different concerns with regards to where, for example, trees or bushes have come across the sidewalk, or where people were parking in a way that was not, did not make the sidewalks accessible,” he said.

Dahl said the city asked residents to trim their bushes back where there were reported issues, and city work crews took care of issues where it was appropriate.

“We were under the impression that we really worked to create an accessible and clear sidewalk along there, so it was disappointing to hear that there was an accident that occurred last night,” Dahl said.

The city started a transportation master plan to address issues like Anderson’s.

“How do we improve sidewalks, crossings, put in new paths, bike lanes and things like that. And our hope is that this is a continual process where we will see improvements,” Dahl said.

He said they’re focused on educating residents about looking out for neighbors with different needs, especially on the roads. Midvale leaders said they’re planning on getting input from Anderson for a social media awareness campaign that’s in the works.

“We don’t think about all of the needs of all of our neighbors all the time, right? And so we’re hoping that through education, we can help people remember that there are people with different needs that we need to look out for,” Dahl said.

Anderson said she feels helpless if nothing changes, including driving habits.

“I just wish they would leave the house earlier, but they’re just so concerned about getting to wherever they’re going,” she said. “They’re just selfish.”