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Woman hit at Knightdale crosswalk recounts experience

The sun was setting on Jan. 15 as Chelsea Blake looked both ways before crossing the Mingo Creek Trail crosswalk on her bike.

Posted Updated

By
Brian Shrader
, WRAL anchor/reporter
KNIGHTDALE, N.C. — The sun was setting on Jan. 15 as Chelsea Blake looked both ways before crossing the Mingo Creek Trail crosswalk on her bike.

"The next thing I remember is waking up in the ER," said Blake, who had to look at the police report to fill in the details.

According to Blake, other cars had stopped before she started crossing Hodge Road. Then someone started honking their horn.

"Just as I was across the street, the van hit me," she said.

Blake suffered several broken bones and internal injuries. After spending almost three weeks in the hospital, she's now recovering at home and hoping officials will take action against what she calls a dangerous crosswalk.

"It is lit, but people don't slow down," Blake said. "The only solution I can see is to have a bridge overpass."

Brian Mayhew, the North Carolina Department of Transportation's top traffic safety engineer, said the trail crossing appears to be well-marked. The DOT will review the crossing, he said, but in the end it's up to drivers to obey the law.

"The signs, the markings ... [those are] the things we do can help, but it comes back to the responsibility of the driver to be slow and safe and be alert," Mayhew said.

Blake hopes her close call will encourage more drivers to observe crosswalks.

"Go to a crosswalk expecting someone is there who needs you to stop," she said.

Knightdale police said Augustin Yanez, of Durham, was driving the van. Yanez is charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk and driving without a license.

Blake's attorney said Yanez does not have liability insurance.

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