City Sketches New Crosswalk Where Brookfield Student was Killed

Just over 15 months since Brookfield resident and Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) student Dong Lin died after being struck by a car while crossing White Street near the school, the City of Danbury is planning a crosswalk across what has become a dangerous area for pedestrians.

Last week, Thomas Hughes, superintendent of construction services in Danbury, was working with City Engineer Farid Khouri and Traffic Engineer Abdul Mohammed on where to put a new crosswalk.

"What we're working on is student safety," Hughes said.

The issue of pedestrian safety on White Street arose after the Nov. 22, 2011 incident that took Lin’s life while walking across White Street on dark and rainy night.

The driver, later identified as WCSU student Eugene Robinson, fled the scene. Robinson turned himself in to Danbury police on Jan. 27, 2012 and later pled “guilty” on charges of evading responsibility in an incident resulting in death or serious injury. The trial is currently awaiting disposition with the next court date scheduled for March 15.

While city and university workers walked on White Street Tuesday deciding where to put a new crosswalk, in classroom 306 of White Hall, students talked about their own near hits on White Street.

"It was a thirsty Thursday night," recalled Alicia-Leigh Oliveri, who was a freshman walking from the White Street garage to the campus across the street at about 2 a.m. when she was nearly hit. "I didn't see the car at all. It was going at least 80 miles an hour."

Oliveri held her thumb and forefinger a quarter inch apart. "It came that close to my foot. It was red. That was all I could see," she said. "Now I go over the bridge. If I'm on the street, I stop and yield to all potential cars. I make sure everybody is stopped in all directions before I walk into the street."

Oliveri's experience is a typical one.

Diana Newman, a junior and professional writing major, made it safely across three lanes of traffic on White Street when in the fourth lane a car tried to speed around the other cars.

"The car didn't see me, and then when they were on top of me they did this weird little wave and kept going," Newman said.

Kimberly Janvier said she had her hands full of groceries when she went into that awkward back and forth eye contact with a pick-up truck driver who kept inching forward and stopping. Then she stepped forward.

"The truck just kept on going,” she said, and she let it pass. “I wasn't going to die on that truck."