A woman in a wheelchair was struck and killed by a car early Saturday morning on Forty Mile Road between the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and the Toyota Amphitheatre.<\/p>\n
The woman, identified by her family as 60-year-old Cynthia Romero, was a stroke victim who was paralyzed on one side of her body. She was killed in her wheelchair, and her family is now calling for safety improvements along the busy roadway.<\/p>\n
“We don’t want her death to be in vain. My mom was an advocate for people less fortunate; she was a social worker most of her life. We just want to carry that on,” said Alicia Morales, Romero’s daughter. “She deserves better, she deserved better than that.”<\/p>\n
Authorities say Romero was struck by a car around 4:30 a.m. Saturday. Her family says she was leaving the Hard Rock Casino, where she had been earlier, and was heading home nearby.<\/p>\n
“She’s a mother of 6, a grandmother to ten. She, for whatever reason, she needed to get home and we’re still trying to figure all that out now,” said Morales, “but the reality is somebody could have seen her. She could’ve had more light for herself, if there was any kind of visibility out here.”<\/p>\n
The California Highway Patrol says the driver remained at the scene. When officers arrived, they performed life-saving measures, but Romero died in the roadway.<\/p>\n
Her family worries the same kind of crash could happen again along the stretch of road.<\/p>\n
“I’ve learned recently that the casino has bought out all this land from here to there with plans for hotels and everything else that attracts people to come here,” said Morales.<\/p>\n
More development could be coming to the area. A little more than a year ago, Yuba County announced it had received a $35 million grant to extend Highway 70 and connect it to a future sports and entertainment zone. Part of the project includes safety improvements for pedestrians and cyclists.<\/p>\n
“These things need to happen now,” said Morales. “Just hearing the cars go by, it is at such a great speed. It’s a freeway out here. It’s a highway, but it’s like a freeway out here.”<\/p>\n
Romero’s family has started a petition calling for safety improvements along Forty Mile Road. They want sidewalks, lighting, crosswalks and accessible routes for people using wheelchairs.<\/p>\n
“This is not the first fatality, and I don’t believe it will be the last if they don’t do something,” said Morales.<\/p>\n
CHP says there was no indication that drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash.<\/p>\n
Construction for the Highway 70 connector project is expected to begin this year.<\/p>\n
\n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n