Dogolo.
(Updated) The attorney for the driver who killed 81-year-old pedestrian Dolores Mariconde Dogolo in Wooster Square seconded Tuesday an initial police assessment that she was not using a cell phone at the time of the collision.
That fatal accident at 10:32 a.m. last Thursday at Olive and Greene streets has provoked much speculation as well as discussion about how to make the area safer for walking. (Click here to read one discussion among readers.) Dogolo, who lived on Olive Street right by the corner of Greene, was taken to the hospital after the collision and died there later Thursday.
Police are still investigating the incident. Someone with familiar with the investigation told the Independent that police have preliminarily concluded that the driver of the blue Audi that struck Dogolo in the intersection was not texting or using a phone at all at the time of the crash: The driver said she didn’t have a phone; none was found in the car; she waited for cops to arrive on the scene and never called 911.
The driver’s attorney, Hugh Keefe, said Tuesday that the driver had a cellphone in a briefcase at the time of the collision and never took it out.
“She’s devastated” by the fatal collision, Keefe said. The Independent, according to general practice, does not name defendants in criminal cases — or in cases like this one, name people who theoretically could become defendants but have not been charged with a crime — unless the individual has a relevant public-figure position or has offered to tell her side of the story.
Police have have no official comment yet on whether they will seek criminal charges against the driver, beyond saying that the driver has been cooperative.
Nor have police at this point encountered evidence that the driver was speeding. The posted speed limit is 25 miles per hour on the narrow through-street. There is no marked crosswalk at Olive and Greene, but it would still be considered a crosswalk under state law because it is at an intersection.
The police have not finished interviewing witnesses and examining the car, so they have drawn no final conclusions.
Dogolo worked as a clerk in city government offices for 20 years. “Dolores loved her Wooster Square neighborhood and enjoyed taking walks in the park, and talking to neighbors. She was a fantastic cook and baker, and also enjoyed shopping and going to the movies,” according to this obituary. (Read more about her in this interview with her daughter, by the Register’s Evan Lips.) Her funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday at Peter H. Torello & Son Funeral Home, 1022 Dixwell Ave., Hamden.
City transit chief Doug Hausladen said he’s been keeping an eye on the case to see whether it will lead to a prosecution under the state “vulnerable users” law that went into effect Oct. 1. It adds penalties to drivers found guilty of hitting pedestrians (or cyclists or construction workers). Depending on what the police conclude, Hausladen said, this could be the first case to demonstrate how the new law “appl[ies] to tragedies in our road network.”
Neighborhood Alder Aaron Greenberg said that whatever the police findings in this case, Dogolo’s death reaffirms his commitment to seeking a way to make the area safer for pedestrians.
“We have to make sure something like this never happens again,” remarked Greenberg, who said he feels unsafe when crossing Olive Street.
“I showed up as they were washing away the blood [last Thursday]. It was a horrible event. I remember seeing Dolores around; she used to walk around a lot. It makes me think, as I’ve been thinking for a while, especially as there’s new construction coming in on Olive Street and Union Street, we need more traffic-calming measures. I live on Olive Street, and I don’t feel safe crossing.”
I like the Alder and the DOT director's commitment to making Olive Street better. What could be done right now with little money to improve the intersection and the street today?
Could planters be placed in advance of intersections on Olive to narrow the street scape?
Could a crosswalk be painted at this intersection?