Community leaders call for change after another deadly Germantown hit-and-run

GERMANTOWN - A woman is dead after police say a driver struck her on a Germantown street, then fled early Sunday morning.

Police say the 31-year-old woman was crossing the intersection at Germantown and Coulter streets when she was hit by an oncoming car around midnight. 

The car, possibly a white SUV, reportedly fled the scene leaving the fatally injured woman behind. Surveillance footage is being surveyed for more information about the vehicle.

Less than two weeks ago, another woman was killed in a hit-and-run at this exact intersection. 

Dia Lee, 21, was crossing Germantown Avenue on Coulter Street on June 20 when police say a speeding Tesla struck her and kept driving. The driver, a 21-year-old woman, turned herself into police and is now facing charges.

RELATED: Woman charged in Philadelphia hit-and-run that killed 21-year-old woman

The fatal hit-and-run is being investigated by the Philadelphia Police Accident Investigation Division.

Bernard Lambert is a community activist in Germantown and says he talked to people at the scene after the hit and run happened. "As a person who lives in Germantown and is active and walks the neighborhood, something needs to change within the bylaws," Lambert said. "We definitely don’t live in a part of the city where people stop."

Anne Dicker and Kittura Dior are with Northwest Traffic Calming Committee. They are trying to affect  change so that roadside memorials and communities in pain are not so frequent.

"Raised pedestrian crossings to bump out to speed cameras," Dicker said. "Anything that will make drivers subconsciously want to slow down."

Dior has been volunteering her time to traffic calming for over a decade. One of the long term solutions she’s found in her research is that too many commercial and residential streets are labeled arterial which means highway.

"That has been the biggest obstacle we’ve had for decades," Dior said. "Our streets are mislabeled as arterial. No street with a commercial corridor with houses, schools, pedestrians driveways should be arterial. It just should not be done."

Police haven’t released the name of the victim and are searching for the person responsible for this hit-and-run.

The Northwest Traffic Calming Committee is holding a public meeting on July 24th at 4pm at Carpenter Lane Station in West Mount Airy.