Child dies after being struck by car on Slaughter Beach Road
A 2-year-old boy died Oct. 13 after police say he was in the roadway of Slaughter Beach Road and was struck by an oncoming car.
The boy, Eldridge Brundge of Dover, was visiting family on Slaughter Beach Road when for unknown reasons he walked onto the roadway at 8:05 p.m., said Master Cpl. Heather Pepper of the Delaware State Police.
Eldridge was wearing dark-colored clothing and standing in the westbound lane of travel when a passing motorist stopped in the eastbound lane and tried to contact the child, Pepper said. About the same time, she said, a 72-year-old Milford man driving a 1998 Toyota Corolla was negotiating a slight right curve in the roadway as he traveled westbound, and he did not see the Eldridge in the roadway. The left front of the vehicle struck the boy within the westbound travel lane, Pepper said, and the driver came to a controlled stop just west of the collision scene.
Eldridge was transported to an area hospital before later being transported to Nemours Children’s Hospital. While en route to Nemours, Pepper said, the boy was pronounced deceased.
The 72-year-old man was not injured during the collision.
Slaughter Beach Road was closed for about three hours; the crash remains under investigation by Delaware State Police Troop 7 Collision Reconstruction Unit. Anyone with information regarding this collision is asked to contact Sgt. Nicholas DeMalto at 302-644-5020.
