Pedestrian killed at Washington and Nassau Street intersection

On Tuesday afternoon, a cement truck struck Leslie Goodrich Rubin, 62, of Princeton, N.J. in the crosswalk at the intersection of Washington Road and Nassau Street, according to a press release from the Princeton Police Department.

Rubin was the wife of Charles Rubin, a visiting scholar to the James Madison Program at the University. She was a political science professor at Duquesne University who was in Princeton while Charles Rubin completes his visiting professorship.

Ralph Allen, 60, of Tabernacle, N.J., was turning south onto Washington Road from Nassau Street when he struck Rubin. She was pronounced dead at the scene from her injuries. Allen did not report any injuries.

The Princeton Police Department had closed down a stretch of Washington Road as of 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, with plans to reopen in the next few hours. Meanwhile, the investigation into the accident continues.

Several police officers and a lieutenant declined to comment at the scene this afternoon.

University Assistant Vice President for Communications Daniel Day deferred comment to the Princeton Police Department, noting that the department has all the information that is currently available.

“It’s also just kinda crazy, because I was crossing the street just around that time, and there are many times when I don’t wait for the green light," said Maddie St. John '18, who passed by the scene immediately after the accident. And so it’s just kinda crazy to think that, you know, it could’ve so easily been me, or the person I was walking with, or you know, any one of my friends, who I know don’t always wait for the green light too.”

Robert George, Director of the James Madison Program and McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, issued a statement over Twitter on Wednesday morning, “The James Madison Program mourns our beloved Leslie Rubin, wife of Prof Charles Rubin, who died in a tragic accident in Princeton yesterday. All of us here are in a state of shock. We've thrown our arms around our dear Charlie in a desperate effort to comfort him---and ourselves.”

According to Planet Princeton, the intersection is one of the most dangerous in the Princeton area, and the state has recently addressed issues with the intersection’s traffic signals. Last year, a truck hit a traffic light at the intersection, and two years before that, a woman was struck and injured while crossing Vandeventer Avenue, one block north of Nassau.

Contributor Neha Chauhan contributed reporting.

A previous version of this article said that a woman had been killed while cross Vandeventer Avenue, but she was struck and injured. The 'Prince' regrets the error.