DC official calls for change after SUV strikes family

Calls for change after SUV strikes father, 2 children in DC

At least one D.C. official says something needs to be done after an SUV struck a father and his two children Wednesday morning.

WASHINGTON - One D.C. elected official is calling for action after two children and their father were hit by a vehicle Wednesday morning.

D.C. police say it happened as they were crossing Wheeler Road and Mississippi Avenue, Southeast.

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The family was said to be in the crosswalk when the driver of a jeep made a left turn and struck all three.

Officials said speed may have been a factor, which, according to Salim Adofo, Chairperson for the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions 8C, has been a constant issue in the area where the accident happened.

"If we can just slow down a lot of these accidents would be mitigated," Adofo said. "And the fact that people haven't just seems like they’re reckless and have no consideration for who they will impact is something we saw today, and we just really need people to slow down."

Commissioner Adofo says he recently put in a series of requests to the District Department of Transportation identifying different neighborhoods with traffic concerns in Ward 8.

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Adofo said he made a recommendation to DDOT on September 8th and was told it would take 130 days to complete the traffic study before DDOT can report back with any findings and measures to address the traffic concerns.

"We knew this was something that possibly could happen, and we wanted to try and be proactive as opposed to being reactionary to this," Adofo said. "It’s unfortunate that this did happen, but I think this should be able to bump up this traffic study from 130 days to at least just make this top priority."

"Ultimately DDOT has a role to play, the citizens have a role to play, and we as people in leadership have got to encourage people to slow down," Adofo said "If you can slow down it won’t fix every traffic problem we have but it will cut down on the number of accidents we do have."