Reese Witherspoon is a very dedicated runner — a fact that is evidenced by countless paparazzi shots that capture her in the act. Honestly, I don’t know how she puts up with that aspect because, when I’m working out, one of the last things that I’d ever want would be for someone to take a picture of my red, sweating face. At any rate, that’s an incredibly minor concern compared to what Reese experienced yesterday. While the photos above and below are certainly not a depiction of the events that occurred, they certainly set the scene, for Reese was out for her usual jog when she was struck by an automobile. Thankfully, she is okay now — probably pretty banged up — but okay enough to return to her home after undoubtedly getting checked out by a doctor:
Reese Witherspoon was hit by a vehicle on Wednesday afternoon.
The incident occurred during a jog in Santa Monica, Calif., a rep for the actress, 35, confirms to PEOPLE. The driver, an 84-year-old woman, was cited for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, say reports.
Explaining that she was not seriously injured, the rep says Witherspoon is “resting comfortably at home.”
Santa Monica police Sgt. Richard Lewis told the Associated Press that Witherspoon was jogging in an unmarked crosswalk when she was struck.
[From People]
What a scary incident, but unfortunately, it’s altogether a common experience. Most of the runners I know have been “clipped” more than once in their tenure, which is why I usually wimp out and run on a treadmill at the gym. Hopefully, Reese will be back in form soon enough and will be able to resume running, which is an activity that she clearly enjoys. I just hope she stays lucky and doesn’t have to worry about all of the less than careful drivers out there.
Photos courtesy of Fame
Very scary….glad she wasn’t seriously hurt. Does anyone know if Lindsay was in the area?
Wow, hope she’s not hurting too bad today.
This is why I don’t exercise, that stuff will kill ya!
Wow, hope she is ok…
@brin – Good point. We should find out if Lindsey was in the area. Lindsey looks so awful and hag-like these days that she really could fit the description: “The driver, an 84-year-old woman, was cited for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, say reports”
Drivers are so bad about looking out for runners, walkers, cyclists, and kids playing.
I believe she wants to get papped so she jogs in highly visible locations like Santa Monica. I used to like her but after reading her quotes from Marie Claire I nearly gagged. Interesting that something bad happens to Reese after meeting recently with Swifty, to bash JG on top of other things. Karma…
I read somewhere that it was an 84-year old who hit her.
It happens when you put yourself out there alot. Ive been hit by cars twice already(as in my body has been hit by a VEHICLE) on my bicycle. First time the driver ran a red light and second time a driver tried to turn right on a left lane and didnt see me next to him in the right lane. I dont think it happened because Im in the streets, it happens because I ride my bike about 320 days a year for the past three years. Given Reese seems to be a pretty dedicated runner, Im not surprised. Im just surprised it hasn’t happened before and that its not a serious injury.
Get off the road and treadmill … and get on the trails! Better for your joints and your head space.! 🙂
Awww poor Reese. THIS is why I wish my Grandma would stop driving! She’s a 87yr old maniac on wheels.
I think it’s a combination of inattentive drivers and inattentive pedestrians. Don’t ASSUME that pople will stop just because you are there. I see people all the time who just walk right out into traffic, without even looking around. Half have iPods in their ears. The other half stroll on by and glare at you as you sit there, waiting. Then you have a bunch of people driving, talking on their phones. I never just walk out into the street. I stand there and make sure I wait until someone stops, because many people don’t.
Not saying Reese did any of this, it’s just my pet peeves coming out I guess 😉
I think she’s preggers and the only reason she went to the hospital was to check out the baby.
thank God she didn’t break her back or neck!
what’s an “unmarked” crosswalk?
an 84 years old woman??? Are they joking?? Of course she would clip a woman..she shouldn’t drive!.. wtf
When I read this headline I totally pictured Lindsay Lohan clipping Reese. LL did just get that new Porsche, isn’t she due for a hit and run again?
I’m so happy she’s okay. These little old ladies need to have their licenses revoked!!
@brin LOL
@velourazure, I thought the same thing – what is an unmarked crosswalk?
Could it be just an ordinary street, without zebra stripes? Or was Reese jaywalking?
I’ve almost been hit a few times, (knock on wood) but somehow managed to avoid it.
I’ve learned that I need to make eye contact with drivers when crossing streets to make sure they see me.
And now that my kids are walking and biking to school on their own now I remind them every day to not assume someone will stop at a stop sign or obey traffic laws. In fact assume the opposite and always err on the side of caution!
brin, first comment, spot on. Thinking the same.
I’ve almost been clipped a few times, so now I make it a point to make eye contact with drivers. A couple months ago, some asshole did a rolling stop at a stop sign (2 blocks from my house!), looked right, and never looked left to see me coming. I took it for granted the idiot would see me in her peripheral – she didn’t until I screamed at her and pounded my fist on her car.
Better a dent in her hood from my fist, than from my body. I had a really good run after that – I ran like an animal. . . albeit on the city park pedestrian trail.
I walk my dog three times a day and I am constantly having close calls with drivers not paying attention, Saturday morning garage sales or the worst the drivers are to busy looking at the goods than the fact that they are driving off the road onto the sidewalk. Post #3 is right exercise is dangerous.
Glad she’s OK, must have been scary. I’d bet that was that 84 yr old’s last driving trip.
Where I work, in the summers it’s crazy with people riding their bikes, jogging, etc, and there’s at least one hit every year. It’s usually the drivers fault, but I’ve had people step out in front of my car, swerve their bikes into the lane, etc. A little common sense on both parties usually helps!
What’s with celebs getting hit by cars lately? I see she runs with an ipod too, how foolish. Like Delta Juliet said above even if you have the right of way it is your responsibility to not get hit by a car by checking before you cross even if the light is red. Obviously you can’t control somebody coming out of nowhere but if your ears and eyes are open it certainly helps. I have been a runner and walker for years and I love the pure joy of running or walking not sure why anyone needs music in their ear. It is just plain not safe to have music in your ear.
I’m all for the ‘take the licence and run’ approach when it comes to older drivers. People have to get mowed down so you can prove your independence? Screw that? While I don’t approve of throwing away the elderly (my mother works at a nursing home and I volunteered at one for…some amount of time that clocked in at over a year), but if you’re a danger kindly stop killing me. My first accident came at the hands of an elderly man and the only thing he proved is that when it comes to plowing into van of schoolchildren, he’s still got it. Perceived ‘rights’ means I haven’t had a pain-free day since I was eleven. The only ones to ask if we were okay were the driver and our families, the second time was a hit-and-run. Insurance companies are the devil’s semen, if any of you have had to deal with them-accuse first, accuse later.
Everyone who is on the road thinks he owns it, it leads to inconsiderate and stupid descisions by anyone. I guess it’s true: we are all someone dumb.
The best thing about Reese Witherspoon for me right now is her mini me daughter since it is unlikely she will ever top her own awesomeness on screen in Freeway w/ Kiefer Sutherland.
Her little girl is an AMAZING echo of her mother.
@ TG hear, hear!!! I live in NYC and every time I see a runner with headphones on, I want to yell at them! Um, huge city, lots of drivers, lots of accidents = you should want your ears clear for safety’s sake.
I run with my iPod, and I can hear fine. I don’t use noise-cancelling earbuds and I keep the music relatively low. I can hear what people say to me (although I usually run on trails). Way safer than someone in their car blaring their music. It always gets me when drivers bitch about how unsafe it is for walkers, runners, cyclists to use mp3 players. They’re in their cars blaring music, talking ion a phone, trying to eat, light a cigarette, etc.
It’s not just runners. It’s amazing the number of people that inch up their cars on pedestrians on crosswalks, as they’re crossing.
It makes me mad with rage. You’re sitting on your a%% in an air-conditioned/heated 2-ton vehicle, you can wait 10 seconds for me to walk across here, defenseless and exposed, without threatening to hit me!
Argh.
Jogging… highly dangerous pursuit, should be outlawed. Maybe along with 84 year old drivers.
Despite Reese being captured many times out jogging, have yet to see her with a red, sweating face 🙂
At what point will we force anyone over 70 to take tests (eye, reflexes, in-car trial runs etc) in order to be able to drive?! I’m a runner–this has happened to me once and several of my friends as well. Only in one instance was it a teen driver, by the way–he was texting–and in every other case, it was an elderly person. Poor Reese. Glad she wasn’t seriously injured–so scary!
If I use my iPod when running, I only use one earbud. It can be very difficult to hear approaching vehicles with both earbuds. Especially hybrid vehicles.
Omg, that is scarey.
“I’m all for the ‘take the licence and run’ approach when it comes to older drivers.”
I have thought about it! I doubt even that would stop my Cruella D’Ville Grandmother.
Driver: Hey is that….
Passenger: Brake
Driver: OMG! It is. It’s Reese…..
Passenger: BRAKE! BRAKE!
THUMP!
But seriously, I hope she’s okay. She’s a great actor and seems like a very classy lady. I also like that she doesn’t wear Nike runners.
There is no way a celebrity, especially one that is relevant, high profile, still marketable, exercises in such a way and place without purpose. Damn right she wants to be recognized and regarded for this activity, no matter how banal and benign. She has a very specific brand; being seen as a hands on mother, church goer, fit, and now respectably married off is a very calculated and carefully controlled enterprise.
I still feel bad she got hit by a car. No one deserves to get run over no matter who they are or what they’re doing.
Perhaps Reese will do what I would do, if I had her money and supposed desire for privacy; work out in a state of the art home gym or build an olympic quality running track in my expansive back yard. No chance of being run over.
Damn, I just noticed she’s wearing Nike shorts. 🙁
Glad she is ok
Scary! Glad to know that she is ok.
Wow. I get that this is CeleBITCHY but damn ya’ll, sometimes…. I know that celebs have an image they cultivate and they often know where paps will be and show up accordingly. However, they also have lives outside the confines of their residences. For example, the Brange are very PR savvy and do use the paps to their advantage. However, sometimes a trip to the movies with the kids is just a trip to the movies.
Reese gets papped at church because it is part of her routine–if it’s Sunday where can you get a shot of Reese. Before my knees complained about running in general, I always ran outside. I hate treadmills–I like scenery. Santa Monica has very wide, beautiful residential streets and cool ocean breezes. I.e., a great place to run and she could have been 3/4 of the way across the street before the car was anywhere near here. Rant over.
That is why people should be tested per their driving skills along with eyesight and whatever else every year after they hit 70 or so. After all we don’t allow children to drive until they are 16 and even then they need to go through graduated levels and testing before full-fledged driving. We need to do the same for older people because your reflexes (not to mention eyesight) go downhill pretty fast as in the case of that 84-year-old woman.
Don’t care if Reese is famous or what: no one should be hit by a car while jogging, skating, biking, or walking. Especially in a cross-walk.
Does eating too much licorice make u poop lots?
@brin – the first to post and after scanning subsequent posts aI still find yours the most pertinent post – yes – the ‘LL’ threat is not one to be trifled with and those that indulge in this most physically exerting hobby should be ever vigilant against the ‘LL’ threat – and just another reason why I have sworn against any type of road-based exercise. Give me tennis and volleyball any day as a calorie burning activity – walking/running sucks big time!!
I’m also curious…what’s an unmarked cross-walk? At any rate, I’ve seen entirely too many errant pedestrians and cyclists. Austin is notorious for the latter. I’ve seen them weave in and out of traffic, fully expecting drivers to be able to avoid crushing them beneath their wheels-when you factor in all the terrible drivers, it just seems ridiculously dangerous to me. Then I see people cycling down the shoulder of the interstate. I’ve even seen someone dressed from head to toe in black, cycling down an interstate service road, with no apparent reflective gear on their bicycle (!) Maybe it’s because I live in the boonies, but I simply don’t understand why people feel compelled to exercise in high-traffic areas. Why not go to a designated place, like a park or a hiking trail?