RICHMOND, Va. — VCU Health's trauma team is reporting a concerning uptick in crashes involving pedestrians, following the death of a woman who was hit and killed while crossing a Richmond street on Monday.
The latest crash took the life of 23-year-old Hope Cartwright, an editor at Virginia Living Magazine who was struck and killed as she walked across Cary and 2nd Street while leaving work.
Dr. Patrick Melmer, a trauma surgeon at VCU Health, said once the hospital receives word that a pedestrian has been hit by a car, they usually prepare for a trauma activation. This means they prepare before the patient arrives to treat severe or potentially deadly injuries.
"What ends up happening is that these types of injury patterns sometimes may not seem very dramatic at first, but they can evolve to be complex and have very sad outcomes," Melmer said.
WATCH: Virginia Living Magazine working to publish final stories by editor killed in hit-and-run
"We can see things ranging from damaged internal organs, internal bleeding, broken bones, head injuries or really any combination of those," he said.
This is why Melmer said bystanders should not move a victim's body after they have been hit to avoid worsening a potential neck or spine injury.
Even low-speed pedestrian collisions by a car often result in death or extreme injury, according to health experts.
"The body is just not built to handle the force from combination of weight and speed of a vehicle," Melmer explained. "That is why these types of injuries result in death on impact."
Monday's hit-and-run adds to Richmond's growing pedestrian safety concerns. Richmond police say there have been four deadly pedestrian collisions so far this year, with three being hit-and-run collisions. However, last year, 13 pedestrians were killed in traffic-related incidents.
The likelihood of a person's body bouncing back to 100% after a collision is determined on a case-by-case basis, according to Melmer.
CBS 6 is giving you a voice. Have a news tip or concern in your community?
Connect with WTVR: newstips@wtvr.com
VCU Police Spokesperson Jake Burns said it's a collaborative effort to improve pedestrian safety, which is why officers have stepped up traffic enforcement around campus.
"No one really thinks about these safety issues until it's in their lap, right, until it's at their front door," Burns said.
From Jan. 12 to Feb. 19, VCU Police initiated 1,029 traffic stops, including 873 summonses issued. Most of those infractions were for running red lights and violating street signs.
While the goal isn't just writing a ticket, VCU Police hope a lesson is learned so a life isn't taken.
"What we want drivers to understand in particular is that they have a unique responsibility when they come through our area, or frankly anywhere when they get behind the wheel of a car, is to do the right thing. Because the circumstances of not doing so, could be deadly," Burns said.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. To learn more about how we use AI in our newsroom, click here.
