Two AU students were injured in a hit-and-run near Tenley Circle on March 15, according to reports from several D.C.-area news outlets.
NBC4.com reported that the two students - one male and one female - had just exited a Metro bus and were crossing Nebraska Avenue at a crosswalk near Tenley Circle around 11 p.m. when the incident occurred. A light blue four-door Honda Accord struck the two pedestrians, shattering the car's windshield and throwing the male student more than 20 feet from the car. The female student broke her leg in the collision. Both students went to area hospitals with nonlife-threatening injuries. Some police officials speculated that visibility in the Tenley Circle area at that time may have been a factor in the collision.
Attempts to contact police for further information on the case and the students involved proved unsuccessful as of press time Sunday evening.
The driver of the car fled the scene after the collision. Police got in contact with Mohammed Niaz, the car's owner, and determined he was not driving that night. Niaz told NBC 4 a friend had driven him back to his home in Alexandria because he has not been able to legally drive recently. Niaz told police he used to work at a Domino's Pizza in the Tenleytown area, but was fired because of an issue involving his driver's license.
The incident occurred days before D.C.-area governments launched a campaign to improve pedestrian safety, according to The Washington Post. The initiative, called "Steel vs. Flesh - it's no contest," was meant to educate pedestrians and improve walking conditions in the District and the surrounding suburbs. An average of 90 pedestrians are killed each year in the D.C. area, and thousands are injured. From Jan. 1 to March 21, nine pedestrians were killed in car crashes in the District of Columbia. Fairfax County, Va., reported two pedestrian deaths since the beginning of the year, while Alexandria and Montgomery County, Md., each had one fatality.
As part of the new initiative, the District posted police at high-traffic intersections to look for drivers and pedestrians who violated current traffic laws. Jaywalking, or walking on areas of the street not designated as crosswalks, is illegal in the District and violators can be charged a $10 fine. Drivers who do not yield for pedestrians at crosswalks can be fined $50 for each offense, The Post reported.
NBC4.com reported that police had made no arrests in the Tenley Circle collision as of March 16. Police officials urged anyone who witnessed the collision or may have seen the driver of the car, which had a Virginia license plate with tag number KEN7568, to contact the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department.
