Driver, 86, strikes pedestrian in Melrose, police say

Melrose police have not cited the driver of the car, Virginia Nelson of neighboring Malden. Officials released few details about the accident.

The victim, Francis Blomerth, 84, of Medford, was hit about 10:30 a.m. at 449 Main St., in front of the Mexico Lindo restaurant, on a road that passes through the center of town. There is a crosswalk nearby, and in the middle of Main Street a neon-yellow traffic sign cautions drivers to stop for pedestrians. Police would not say whether Blomerth was in the crosswalk when struck.

Melrose Fire Captain Ed Collina, among the firefighters responding to the accident, said the victim had “severe head and facial trauma’’ and possibly internal injuries. He was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.

Nelson did not respond to phone messages last night, and no one answered the buzzer at her apartment building.

But she told WCVB-TV that the victim appeared in the street out of nowhere, from between two parked cars. She also told the station she was a careful driver and had never had an accident.

However, Blomerth’s wife, Gertrude, said last night she was told that her husband “was right in the crosswalk’’ when he was hit. He had been in the center picking up items from the drugstore, she said. She said he previously had one leg amputated below the knee and recently had heart surgery.

“He’s tough. He’s been through a lot,’’ she said. “He does not deserve this at all.’’

Main Street is a narrow, two-lane street in the center of Melrose that police said is often lined with parked cars that limit visibility during the day.

Last night, several local residents said this stretch of Main Street has been busier than usual in recent months because nearby construction projects have detoured traffic through an area already popular with pedestrians drawn to the restaurants.

“People run out, and you cannot see them,’’ said Brett Gilles, 16, a junior at Melrose High School.

Another Melrose High junior, Bridget Corso, 16, said she finds the area tricky to navigate. “I go slowly there,’’ she said.

The accident comes two weeks after an 89-year-old Canton woman allegedly struck and fatally injured a 4-year-old girl in a pedestrian crosswalk in Stoughton. Driver Ilse Horn was cited by Stoughton police with motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation for hitting the child on June 13, and her driver’s license was revoked by the state Registry of Motor Vehicles.

On June 2, a 93-year-old man drove his car into the entrance of a Wal-Mart in Danvers, injuring six people, after he hit the gas pedal instead of the brake.

The next day, seven people were injured in Plymouth after a car driven by a 73-year-old woman jumped a curb and ran into a crowd at a war memorial.

A bill sponsored by state Senator Brian Joyce would require drivers 85 and older to pass a road test and eye test every five years to have their licenses renewed. Massachusetts drivers currently are required to renew their licenses every five years and to take an eye test every 10.

A Massachusetts coalition of advocate groups for the elderly, Safe Roads Now, is urging lawmakers to bolster retesting for all drivers to improve road safety.

Globe correspondents Sean Greene and Marc Larocque contributed to this report.