Family and friends said Gina Loveday, 42, was out walking her dog around 8:30 p.m. when she was struck by a car. The driver of the vehicle apparently did not see Loveday and initially did not know that he had hit her or her dog.

The accident occurred March 21 on Highway 9 near Fruitvale Avenue.

Loveday was a recent resident of Saratoga, but had previously lived in Los Gatos.

"She loved Saratoga. We live in San Jose and she said she would never come back; Los Gatos and Saratoga was her thing," said Lindsay Rhodes, Loveday's daughter.

Rhodes described Loveday, a breast cancer survivor, as an honest and caring person.

"She was a very free spirit," said longtime friend Patrice Brill. "She saw the beauty in everything."

The accident has renewed concerns over pedestrian and bike safety on Highway 9. Just last month, a bicycle rider was fatally injured when a drunk driver veered off the highway, killing the bicyclist and severely wounding another.

Saratoga Mayor Ann Waltonsmith said that Highway 9 has become more dangerous over the past years.

"It is increasingly being used because of traffic and we don't have good sidewalks along the highway," she said.

Waltonsmith criticized CalTrans, which has jurisdiction over the highway, for not responding to the accidents.

"From a cities point of view, one loss of life is a terrible thing, but from CalTrans' they have to look at a number of statistics," she said. "I do think that they don't see it from a point of view that we see it from as seriously."

Rhodes also said she felt that the highway was not a safe place for pedestrians and bicyclists.

"I think something needs to be done. Even when I went out there to look around and to look at the flowers and stuff people have put, cars saw me, but they still swung by," she said.

Loveday is survived by her three children.