BATON ROUGE — Three people were hit by vehicles on Plank Road within a mile of each other, leaving one person dead and two others recovering in the hospital.

Carolyn Evans, 66, stepped off her front stoop in the dark and walked across Plank Road when a vehicle hit her. The driver left before police arrived.

Evans died just across the street from her home near the corner of Denham Street and Plank Road. Neighbor Johelle Thomas said she looked at Evans as a second mother.

"It's cousins and family around here," Thomas said. “Every now and then we'd come to her house for bible study.”

Less than two hours later, two more pedestrians were hit on Plank Road, blocks away from the first crash.

Cpl. Saundra Watts with the Baton Rouge Police Department said in that instance, a car hit a pedestrian crossing the road and then swerved and hit another person riding a bike before leaving the scene. Both people were still in the hospital on Monday, with the bicyclist in critical condition. 

"These incidents are both under investigation, but we also want to make people aware that just a simple look down on your phone can wait," Watts said.

A new law taking effect Aug. 1 will create a digital tracking system for cars involved in crashes. designed to help police catch hit-and-run drivers.

Police have asked for the public's help in identifying both drivers involved in the late-night crashes.

According to the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, on average, 1,400 pedestrians are hit each year. Baton Rouge ranks in the top three in the state for the most pedestrian crashes per capita, with nearly 100 pedestrians hit there per year.