CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A Garinger High School student died Wednesday morning after being hit by a Jeep in front of her school at the intersection of Eastway Drive and West Sugar Creek Road.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said 18-year-old Brittany Palmer, a senior at Garinger, died from injuries she sustained when trying to cross a street after school on Tuesday.
Friends of Palmer told NewsChannel 36 that she had just picked up food from a restaurant across the street and was crossing Eastway Drive to come back to the school for a softball game when she was struck by a white jeep.
Police said the driver of that jeep, 54-year-old Robert Zatynski, stopped after the accident and is cooperating with the investigation. He was not hurt.
Asia Collins, a senior classmate of Palmer s, said she thinks the intersection is dangerous.
Everybody goes to get food from Bonapart s and has a hard time crossing, said Collins. This is not the first time this has happened.
Other students agreed, saying there is not a safe place for them to cross the street near the school. There are traffic lights at the intersection, but no pedestrian crosswalks.
The nearest crosswalkers are a half-mile south at Shamrock Drive and a half-mile north at The Plaza.
Police have not charged Zatynski in the accident and said that neither alcohol nor excessive speed was a factor in the accident. The crash is still under investigation.
It was the second time a student was struck by a car on Tuesday. A West Charlotte student was hit earlier in the day. That student is in stable condition, according to school officials.
The Charlotte Department of Transportation says no one has requested a crosswalk where the incident occurred.
The Charlotte Observer contributed to this article.
