TAMPA, Fla.-- A mother has died after getting hit by a car on Bayshore Boulevard while pushing her baby in a stroller. Tampa police said street racing teens are to blame.
Jessica Reisinger, 24, was pushing 21-month-old Lillia Raubenolt in a stroller across the road in South Tampa on Wednesday morning when officers said two cars came speeding toward them.
Investigators said Cameron Herrin, 18, was driving the black Mustang closest to the sidewalk that hit the victims. A 17-year-old boy was driving a Nissan. Both are charged with street racing and vehicular homicide.
Herrin's passenger, his brother Tristan, 20, is also facing a racing charge. It is illegal to ride as a passenger during a street race, according to state law.
Police said Reisinger was visiting from Ohio. Her child is in critical condition, police said.
News of Wednesday's deadly crash saddened, but didn't surprise, members of a pedestrian safety group.
“What's important to understand is that 60 miles an hour on Bayshore Boulevard happens all day every day,” said Christine Acosta, executive director of pedestrian safety group Walk Bike Tampa.
Cops know speeding is an issue but can't seem fix it.
“When we come out, people slow down. When we leave, sometimes they speed up,” said Steve Hegarty, a spokesperson for the Tampa Police Department.
People have been urging the city of Tampa to improve safety on Bayshore for years. The latest plan will lower the speed limit from 40 to 35 mph for this part of the road by October and for the rest of it by next year. Safety advocates said that's only part of the solution.
“Once they pick up speed, then they treat it as a highway,” explained Kathy Yates, a member of Walk Bike Tampa.
There aren't enough crosswalks, she said, to force drivers to slow down. There are only two or three on the entire waterfront portion of the road, where most walkers and runners are.
The city is proposing three new crosswalks with flashing lights at the intersections of Bayshore and South Dakota Ave., South Delaware Ave. and between South Brevard Ave. and West Swann Ave.
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