Pedestrian Injured in Route 37 Accident

Police Lights (Photo: Jason Rojas/Flickr)

A pedestrian walking in the shoulder of Route 37 was injured after being struck by a car Thursday night, police said.

The 6:12 p.m. accident occurred on the highway’s westbound side in front of Commonwealth Plaza in Manchester. Police were called after a 2014 Honda CR-V driven by Derk Gardenier, 63, of Toms River, made contact with Thomas Vicente, 45, of Manchester.

An investigation showed that the Honda was traveling westbound on Route 37 when it entered the shoulder to make a right turn into Commonwealth Plaza. Upon doing so, the vehicle suddenly struck the pedestrian, who was walking in the shoulder of the highway.

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Vicente reported the complaint of pain to multiple areas of his body and was transported to Community Medical Center for treatment of non-life threatening injuries, Manchester police said. Gardenier was uninjured in the incident and refused medical attention. Assisting on scene were paramedics from MONOC and EMTs from Quality Medical Transport.

This crash is currently under investigation by Ptl. Anderson and Ptl. O’Hara of the Manchester Police Department’s Traffic Safety Unit.

Manchester police said in a statement that the department “would like to remind all residents to avoid walking in the shoulder of a highway at night.”

“If doing so is unavoidable, proper precautions should always be taken to include wearing light colored and/or reflective clothing as well as walking against traffic in order to see approaching vehicles,” the statement went on the say. “Additionally, pedestrians should stay as far to the outside of the shoulder as possible.”