Second victim dies after November 1 crosswalk accident on Foster Road

The accident was tragic with one fatality – but now, with her friend also dying – see what the City’s official response is to this incident …

This was the scene, looking west on SE Foster Road from SE 82nd Ave. of Roses, on November 1 when police investigated the accident that killed 23-year-old Lindsay Leonard on the spot, and seriously injured 28-year-old Jessica Finlay. East Portland News file photo

Story and photo by David F. Ashton
Jessica Finlay, the second of two pedestrians struck by a car on S.E. Foster Road on November 1st, has died from her injuries.

The deadly mishap took place at 7:25 pm in the marked Foster Road crosswalk at S.E. 80th. The crossing was described at the time as “dimly lit”. [See our November, 2009 story: CLICK HERE]

28-year-old Jessica Finlay reportedly succumbed to her severe injuries on Friday, January 22nd, in a California hospital.

Finlay had been in a coma since she, and her friend, 23-year-old Lindsay Leonard, had started across Foster after shopping at the Fred Meyer store nearby, and were struck by a Chevy Impala.

Both were later revealed to be recent graduates of Reed College.

Police said the driver, 40-year-old Tito Jose Feliciano, of Vancouver, Washington, did not appear to be impaired. He stopped and cooperated with police, according to investigators, and was not cited.

Officials say a darkened streetlamp near the crosswalk was the reason it was so poorly lighted at the time of this accident.

Mayor Sam Adams afterwards publicly called on PDOT to allocate some of its budget, annually, to improvement of pedestrian crossings at dangerous points, such as this one, around town.

Comments are closed.