CARBONDALE -- A woman on her way to church was hit and killed by a vehicle Tuesday morning in Carbondale.
It was just before the weekday 8 a.m. mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church along Fallbrook Street in Carbondale.
Police said Elizabeth Tolan, 65, a longtime resident of Carbondale's west side, was in the crosswalk headed to mass when she was hit by a car headed down the hill.
The driver of the car was taken for blood tests but the police chief says he does not believe the driver was impaired in any way.
"This particular accident, we believe that the sun glare was the major contributing factor. As far as other problems, we haven't had a fatality here, this is the first," said Carbondale Police Chief Brian Bognatz.
Neighbors have long complained about safety on this part of Fallbrook Street.
"All vehicles go really, really fast and it's really, really bad, especially when it's church days. You know, people crossing back and forth. I mean, there's been a lot of close calls and now, unfortunately, this fatality," said Michelle Davidson-Almond.
Davidson-Almond says Carbondale police patrol Fallbrook during the church's Saturday and Sunday services.
Another woman was hit by a car backing up in a business parking lot near there just one week ago.
"That's two in a row, same time, same week, and I'm pretty concerned about what's happening, and it's frightening," said Richard Lowy.
Lowy owns the hair studio across the street from the church and recently closed half of his parking lot to prevent customers from backing up onto Fallbrook Street.
"Honestly, at this point, I'm just going to have to get over it and hope my clients are OK with it and park on the side!"
Neighbors we talked to say they plan to ask the city for traffic lights or a three-way stop sign at this intersection.
