Police Identify Victim in Fatal Traffic Crash on East State Street
By: Vi Nguyen
Updated: January 2, 2013
January 1, 2013 (ROCKFORD) -- Rockford Police say it happened in the 6600 block of East State Street early Tuesday morning.
East State was closed between Trainer and Mill Roads for several hours while police investigated.
Early reports show, the victim was walking when she was struck by a Garda armored truck.
Police identifed the victim as Kelly A. Kroon, 48 of Belvidere.
Even though the area of East State has no sidewalks, footprints in the snow indicate a lot of pedestrian traffic.
This deadly case raises many concerns for people like Matthew Atkinson.
"When I'm walking people tend to swerve around more often than slowing down or anything else," said Matthew Atkinson.
Atkinson is no stranger to going on bike rides and taking walks around the area, day or night.
"We'll I've been doing it for a long time so I've gotten used to it," said Atkinson. "But it's still a danger."
Major roads like East State St. are a red flag for Atkinson.
He said, during the day the stretch of East State is congested with cars, but becomes a different story during the night for people riding their bicycles or for someone like Kroon, who was walking.
"Most of them have been around long enough to know the layout and everything," said Atkinson. "They stay pretty safe around here, but it's still a danger to a lot of them."
A danger that turned deadly in the early hours of the New Year.
An autospy is scheduled for Wednesday morning.
Anyone with information is asked to call Rockford Police at (815) 963-7867.
East State was closed between Trainer and Mill Roads for several hours while police investigated.
Early reports show, the victim was walking when she was struck by a Garda armored truck.
Police identifed the victim as Kelly A. Kroon, 48 of Belvidere.
Even though the area of East State has no sidewalks, footprints in the snow indicate a lot of pedestrian traffic.
This deadly case raises many concerns for people like Matthew Atkinson.
"When I'm walking people tend to swerve around more often than slowing down or anything else," said Matthew Atkinson.
Atkinson is no stranger to going on bike rides and taking walks around the area, day or night.
"We'll I've been doing it for a long time so I've gotten used to it," said Atkinson. "But it's still a danger."
Major roads like East State St. are a red flag for Atkinson.
He said, during the day the stretch of East State is congested with cars, but becomes a different story during the night for people riding their bicycles or for someone like Kroon, who was walking.
"Most of them have been around long enough to know the layout and everything," said Atkinson. "They stay pretty safe around here, but it's still a danger to a lot of them."
A danger that turned deadly in the early hours of the New Year.
An autospy is scheduled for Wednesday morning.
Anyone with information is asked to call Rockford Police at (815) 963-7867.
