A teenager has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving after an 86-year-old woman was struck and killed while using a zebra crossing, police have said.

Gloria Stephenson, from Silksworth, Sunderland, was using “a zebra crossing when she was struck by a black Sur-Ron electric motorcycle” on the city’s Burdon Road on 16 May, Northumbria Police said.

The electric motorbike was travelling in a southbound direction when it allegedly hit Ms Stephenson, the force added.

The 86-year-old woman’s daughter and grandson were also at the scene, according to a family statement.

The rider drove away from the scene and was later arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, police said, adding that the bike was recovered.

The teenager has since been released on police bail pending further inquiries.

Ms Stephenson’s family paid tribute to the “amazing” pensioner, saying she was “full of life”.

“We are all devastated at the loss of our vibrant, active, beautiful, and intelligent mam, grandma, mother-in-law and great grandma,” the family said.

They added: “She was active, fit, healthy, and had years left to give her love and share her energy and zest for life with everyone who knew her.

“The family want to express their heartfelt thanks and gratitude to everyone who supported mam, and her daughter and grandson at the scene.”

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Northumbria Police has urged witnesses to contact them with information and footage of the collision.

Sergeant Russell Surrey, of Northumbria Police, said: “Our thoughts remain with all of Gloria’s family and loved ones as they try to process what has happened.

“We will support them in any way that we can, as we look to get them the answers they deserve.”

The decision overturned a lower appeals court ruling that sided with environmentalists who accused federal regulators of failing to assess the risks to the broader environment by building an 88-mile rail line in Utah designed to transport crude oil to refineries along the Gulf Coast. 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit previously ruled that the Surface Transportation Board was required to evaluate these broader effects, as the projects could contribute to greater Gulf Coast air pollution and other environmental concerns.

Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling rolled back that decision. 

“Simply stated, NEPA is a procedural cross-check, not a substantive roadblock,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh said in the opinion. 

“The goal of the law is to inform agency decision-making, not to paralyze it,” he said. 

Kavanaugh emphasized that under the 55-year-old law, federal agencies are only required to focus on the environmental effects of projects — in this case, the rail line. 

He said the law does not require the Surface Transportation Board’s environmental review, also referred to as an environmental impact statement, to address the upstream or downstream effects of oil refining. 

“Rather, it needed to address only the effects of the 88-mile railroad line,” the opinion said. “And the Board’s EIS did so.” 

All three liberal judges on the bench agreed with the final ruling, but offered a different reason. 

In a separate concurring opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor insisted that NEPA reviews conducted by federal agencies should be limited to the scope of their own sector. Therefore, in the case of the Surface Transportation Board, which has expertise in transportation, it would not be required to consider the effects of oil drilling and refining. 

“Under NEPA, agencies must consider the environmental impacts for which their decisions would be responsible,” Sotomayor said. 

“Here, the Board correctly determined it would not be responsible for the consequences of oil production upstream or downstream from the Railway because it could not lawfully consider those consequences as part of the approval process,” she said. 

Justice Neil Gorsuch did not participate in the ruling as he recused himself from the case.

The ruling was a major win for the Trump administration and Republicans, who have blamed NEPA for causing undue delays, excessive litigation, and additional costs within the permitting process for large-scale energy projects.

Supporters of the law, enacted in 1970, have insisted that NEPA is critical to avoiding the endangerment of public lands and wildlife, as well as to efforts to combat climate change. 

TRUMP ORDER REQUIRES FASTER ENVIRONMENTAL PERMITTING PROCESS, ENDING PAPER APPLICATIONS

The law has remained at the forefront of the permitting reform debate in Washington, with both Republican members of Congress and President Donald Trump taking steps to simplify NEPA-required reviews. 

Most recently, Trump signed an executive memorandum aimed at quickening the permitting process by bolstering the technology used in issuing these environmental reviews. This includes eliminating the use of paper-based application and review processes, accelerating processing time, reducing the length of documents related to applications, increasing the accessibility of such documents, and improving transparency of permitting schedules.