WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — A memorial vigil was held Monday night for a woman hit and killed last week in West Hartford.
Patricia Brulotte's death was one of multiple recent pedestrian deaths in Connecticut, including in cities such as Bristol and New Haven.
Flowers, white shoes with “in memory of Patricia Brulotte” and “killed here 11/8/2024” written on them, and a piece of paper in the shape of a heart that says “Rest in Peace” were placed near the intersection where she died.
“This is a tragic event and I just hope that this never happens to anybody else in this town and this state,” Thomas Evelein said.
On Nov. 8, Brulotte was hit by a driver on Oakwood Avenue near St. James Street, according to police. She passed away the next day.
Evelein is a friend and neighbor of Brulotte.
“She was a wonderful lady. I used to see her every day, had great conversations with her and, uh, I used to give her rides to the supermarket and help her out while she was recovering from an injury. And, uh, she had just recently regained mobility and was excited to be active again,” Evelein said.
He said she was very kind, considerate and loved his son.
“She would bring him ice cream and always just wanted to know how we were doing,” Evelein said.
When Evelein turned on his TV Sunday night, he didn’t expect to see her name on the news.
“I just felt very sad, shocked, I just couldn't believe that it was her,” Evelein said.
Evelein said Brulotte was 87 years old and was a real estate agent.
The vigil led by Bike West Hartford and partner organizations had about 30 people there.
“It's amazing. I mean, it just shows that people want change in the community, we want pedestrians to be safe. It's really great to know that out of such a tragic event, some good can come of this. Maybe we can change the infrastructure in this town to make it more accessible, make sure people are careful on the road, raise awareness to drivers just to watch out for pedestrians,” Evelein said.
Mary Donegan with Bike West Hartford and part of the Vision Zero action Committee said they are a tight knit community in the city.
“We wanted to come together and celebrate her and acknowledge her passing,” Donegan said.
In Bristol, police said Anthony Fascendini was hit and killed by a vehicle Sunday on the Barnes Highway near Lincoln Avenue.
In New Haven, 41-year-old Luis Timbila was hit and killed in a crash early Sunday morning on State Street.
“Every year, we see these deaths go up starting in November and lasting through January. So, in many ways, it's not a surprise that we had such a terrible weekend,” Amy Watkins, a manager for Watch for Me CT, said.
She said they are tracking the amount of pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities.
“We've lost almost 300 people on our roads to traffic crashes and about almost 70 of those are pedestrians and bicyclists. So, there's really an uptick this year again from last year of how many people have died on our roads,” Watkins said. “And it's really scary and we need people to be looking out for one another on the roads because with the light getting shorter and it's getting harder to see. We really need to be keeping our eyes out and not driving distracted so that we can avoid hitting anybody on our way home.”
Vision Zero is working to limit deaths and serious injuries in town.
“Unfortunately, that is going to be a long-term process,” Donegan said.
Donegan hopes the town will look at dangerous intersections in town and trust the engineers and safety professionals who have intervention ideas.
“Some of those ideas could be raised crosswalks. I know that there should be some flashing beacons going on here. It could be tightening some intersections; it could be all sorts of interventions. We know what works, we just need them to be done,” Donegan said.
Evelein said people need to drive the speed limit and there needs to be a crosswalk light added.
“Because sometimes the crosswalk isn't enough and then also just make sure any obstacles are cleared. Like in this case, there's some bushes that are obstructing some of the vision. So even if we cleared some things like that to add visibility, that would be great,” Evelein said.
Watch for Me CT is hosting a World Day of Remembrance for road traffic victims in the U.S. It will be on Sunday at Degale Field at Goffe Street Park in New Haven 1-2:30 p.m.
Families of victims, survivors, and others are welcomed to attend the event.
There will be a post event gathering at the Bradley Street Bicycle Co-op at 138 Bradley St. in New Haven at 3 p.m. following the ceremony.
Cayla Cade is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at ccade@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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