Crime & Safety

Woman In Critical Condition After Getting Hit by Car in Strawberry

Elderly woman had sustained multiple fractures and other injuries after being struck on Seminary Drive Thursday night.

A 72-year-old woman is in critical condition in Marin General Hospital after being struck by a car while crossing Seminary Drive in Strawberry Thursday night, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The woman, Bette Elbert, was hit by a 2005 burgundy Mercedes Benz just before 9 p.m. at the poorly lit intersection of Seminary and Hodges drives, according to the CHP.

The 2005 Mercedes was heading southbound on Seminary just north of Hodges as Elbert was walking westbound across Seminary. Elbert was wearing dark clothing and there is no defined crosswalk at that intersection, according to CHP spokesman Chris Rardin.

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The driver, 64-year-old Richard Klussman of Strawberry, was unable to avoid striking Elbert with his car, and he braked and slowed as Elbert went onto the hood of the vehicle and broke the windshield, Rardin said.  

Klussman slowed down but not abruptly to avoid throwing Elbert onto the road, Rardin said. After the vehicle came to a stop, Elbert slid off of the vehicle and onto the roadway. 

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A Southern Marin Fire ambulance was dispatched to the scene and found the woman lying in the street with multiple fractures, according to Southern Marin Fire paramedic Jason Golden. Elbert was transported to Marin General Hospital, where she remains in critical condition.

There is no defined crosswalk at that intersection, which is a few hundred feet from Gilbert Drive, which leads up to the campus of the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report. An earlier version of this story based on a report from the CHP mistakenly indicated that the woman had died from her injuries. She remains at Marin General in critical condition. We regret the error.


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