Council Bluffs police are investigating a fatal accident involving a pedestrian Thursday morning.
Police said 63-year-old Mae Zhang was crossing east of the Greenview Road and Eagle Ridge Drive intersection near Mall of the Bluffs around 7:30 a.m. when she was hit by a car coming over the hill.
The driver, 21-year-old Sarah Harris, said sun glare prevented her from seeing Zhang.
Gary and Jolene Fields live in the area and knew something was wrong when they saw a familiar hat in the middle of the accident scene. “This particular lady hit up here this morning, we watch her about every morning, she walks the same time,” said Gary. “We kind of surmised that's what happened.”
He said the sun can be a hazard on Greenview Road early in the morning. “You're going almost due east and the sun is bad, it’s glaring and it’s hard to see in front of you, so you really have to be careful."
Gary added drivers also have to be careful because kids gather there to catch the school bus and some drivers don’t pay attention. “This morning just happened to be people pass the school bus, one going one way, one going the other way and the driver can’t see all this, he’s watching the children get on the bus and you're talking elementary school children, too.”
Police said Zhang was just a few blocks from home when she was hit. Police plan to return to the area to determine if the sun was a factor in the accident. “We'll probably just come out here with a police cruiser, sit where the accident occurred, about the same time the accident occurred, see how big the sun is a factor,” said CBPD’s Greg Casey.
