Dangerous intersection claims another victim

Christine Wirth was a good neighbor to many at the Forge Pond apartment complex where she lived.

CHRIS KELLY staff Friends of Christine Wirth who live in the Brick Housing Authority's Forge Pond apartments examine the troubled Chambers Bridge Road-Ovation Way intersection last Friday. Wirth, 79, died when she was struck by a van as she tried to cross in the crosswalk, with the green light. She was the fourth apartment complex resident to die at the intersection in almost two years. She was a good neighbor right up until the last hour of her life.

"I was talking to her before she left," said Cathy Santos, who has lived at the complex on Chambers Bridge Road for four years. "She asked me if I needed anything."

Wirth, 79, was headed across the street to the ShopRite store on her motorized scooter. She had the green light at the intersection of Chambers Bridge Road and Ovation Way when she started to cross on the return trip home.

Ronald R. Caroselli, 69, Lakewood, had the green light, too, on the westbound side. But when he turned his 2004 Ford van left to head onto Chambers Bridge Road, the van struck Wirth, who was in the crosswalk near the center divider.

Christine Wirth died at the scene. She had to be extricated from underneath the van by members of the Breton Woods and Pioneer Hose fire companies.

Her friend, Maryann Salvatore, was sitting outside one of the buildings when she heard the impact.

"It sounded like a car accident," she said. "It was a terrible sound."

Wirth was the fourth resident from the Housing Authority complex to die at the intersection in almost two years.

Wirth was always careful whenever she crossed the intersection, Salvatore said.

"It's a very dangerous street," she said. "They speed up and down it like nuts. Chris took precautions. She was not a reckless person. She didn't deserve this."

Salvatore moved into the complex about five years ago. There was a knock on her door as she was settling in. It was Wirth.

"She came to my apartment," Salvatore recalled. "She said. 'Hi, my name is Chris. If you ever need anything, I'm right here.'

"She was a lovely woman," Salvatore added. "She would do anything for anybody. Everybody's sad. I still can't believe it. Everyone's in shock around here."

For many at the apartment complex, the trip across Chambers Bridge Road to the stores on the eastbound side is the last vestige of their independence.

But several residents said last week they rarely use the intersection because of the heavy traffic volume.

"You know what?" Santos said. "Four years I've been here. I've been across the street once. I had my granddaughter in a stroller. I said to myself, 'You've got to be out of your mind.' "

Edward Embley, president of the Forge Pond Tenants Association, said more has to be done to make the intersection safer.

"I'd like to see at least a four-way stop light," Embley said, as he shifted in his scooter outside one of the buildings last week. "No right-hand turns. It's horrible out there. I'm tired of seeing my friends get zapped. They have to do something about it. It's a nightmare."

The accident is still under investigation. But charges against the driver, who was "very shaken up," may be pending, said Sgt. Donald Ling, of the Brick Police Department's Traffic Safety Unit.

"This was a tragic accident where the victim was doing everything correctly," he said. "It was a tragic chain of events that occurred."

And police officers aren't as hardened to accidents like this one as some may think.

"We are very compassionate towards the families," he said. "We never just think this is another accident."

Police are urging anyone who saw the accident to call the department's Traffic Safety Unit at 732-262-1140.