JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – Jacksonville Beach police say a woman was struck and killed early Sunday morning as she was crossing Third Street South.
Police have identified the victim as 44-year-old Paulette Thompson. They said she was crossing Third Street at Third Avenue South, when she was hit by a car around 1:30 a.m.
Police said Andrea Peters, 28, was driving the car that hit Thompson.
We spoke to News4Jax Crime and Safety Analyst Gil Smith about why there seem to be so many pedestrian accidents in this area.
He says it could be because of all of the tourists and people not being careful.
"They're visiting and with all the bars and restaurants in the area people are drinking and they're sometimes crossing the streets without looking," said Gil Smith.
Smith says in the summer people may be hot and they may be trying to get out of the heat so they may not pay as much attention when crossing and they may not cross where they're supposed to.
"People don't want to wait for traffic to clear sometimes and just shoot across and take a chance," Smith said.
At this time, Peters is not facing charges.