Woman in wheelchair struck by car in Sebastopol

A 27-year old Sebastopol woman in a wheelchair suffered major injuries Thursday morning when she was struck by a car as she tried to cross Bodega Avenue.

The woman was crossing the busy road west of Sebastopol at Ragle Avenue South shortly after 10 a.m. when she was struck by an eastbound silver Kia, according to police and witnesses.

“I heard a big thump and then a ‘aahhhhh!’’ said neighbor Patti Freman, who lives near the intersection. “I thought it was a dog at first.”

Freman went outside and soon learned that it was her neighbor, a woman who lives off Valley View Drive, who had been struck.

“She flew quite a ways over the other side of the street,” Freman said. “Her wheelchair was in pieces and she was face down in the street.”

Sebastopol Fire Capt. Steve Thibodeau said the woman was pushed 75 feet from the point of the collision and suffered major injuries. She was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

The driver was a 79-year old Sebastopol man who was “shaken, but otherwise uninjured,” according to the Sebastopol Police Department, which issued an alert at 10:19 a.m. telling drivers to avoid the area.

Neither the driver’s nor the victim’s names were released Thursday because the collision was still under investigation, police said.

Freman said Caltrans increased the speed limit in the area to 40 mph years ago, and accidents are now commonplace.

“It’s unreal. It’s like a drag strip and we can’t get the cops to come up here and do anything about it,” Freman said.

She and her neighbors are planning to go to the City Council to demand better signs or signals be installed at the crosswalk.

“It’s a nightmare,” she said.

Another resident who lives near the intersection, Paul Menconi, said the city has taken limited measures to increase the visibility of the crosswalk, but they’ve been ineffective.

He said the high traffic volumes, fast speeds from people coming or racing up the nearby hill, and proximity of the intersection to popular Ragle Ranch Regional Park all have made the spot treacherous.

“I witness near misses almost every day,” Menconi said.