Coworkers kid hit by car while on his bike

[pardes]

A coworker has a 14 year old boy who was "only going across the street to get a hotdog...." He was with his brother (11) and a few other friends in that age range. On the trip back across the 4 lane road, the other kids raced across but the 14 year old stopped when he saw a car coming.

The driver of the car stopped and motioned for him to cross. He did and was struck by another car in the other lane. The driver who motioned him across fled the scene.

The boy has brain damage they hope will correct itself with time but he won't be able to start school in September.

No, he wasn't wearing his helmet. Both brother's helmets were sitting in the garage.

I cannot believe that a driver would be so stupid to wave a kid across a major road without checking for traffic in the next lane.

[badgercat]

That's terrible. I've encountered many similar situations as a pedestrian... someone waves you on, you hesitate because there are cars coming in the other lane, they get impatient, no one knows who should go, etc. It was a poor move on the driver's part, but I can also kind of put myself in his/her shoes of automatically giving the kid the right of way, without considering that there would be other traffic. (I made that mistake myself once of waving someone across without checking for other traffic... fortunately, the pedestrian did see the other car first and waited until the coast was clear. Scared the pants off of me, though). Fleeing the scene, however, is completely unjustifiable.

[Trek420]

And I cannot believe that another driver seeing a stopped car does not think "I wonder why that car is stopped?" Don't they teach that in drivers ed? Oh wait, most schools don't have that anymore.

Sounds similar to what happened to MM_QFC here with a driver passing other stopped drivers.

I hope the kid heals soon.

[madscot13]

I've been in that position, except that I had the light also.

Please keep us updated on his status and don't let this deter you from biking. Just let it remind you about safe biking.

[shootingstar]

I truly hope the boy recovers..somehow. It does sound like a tense future of for awhile of waiting, testing, learning and understanding the impact.

[LBTC]

Sending butterflies to all involved, especially for the boy to heal quickly, and for his family to have the strength and love to make it through this ordeal, and, of course, for his health care team to make all the right moves as he struggles to recover.

Hugs, too
~T~

[OakLeaf]

Oh man. Sending healing thoughts and hugs to all involved.

[Becky]

Oh my gosh, that's terrible! The kiddo and his family are in my thoughts and prayers.

What's with the driver fleeing the scene? He took on the responsibility of waving someone across (something that they specifically teach you not to do in Defensive Driving, due to legal ramifications), but couldn't be bothered to stick around to help an injured kid? When did it become "acceptable" to completely abdicate responsibility?

[NoNo]

That's scary, and I've been on every side of it. You're never quite sure what to do. Too bad this time ended badly. Hope he recovers fully xx

[Tuckervill]

That's horrible, and I'm very sorry to hear it.

They should have been crossing at the light.

This is why I don't roll through an intersection even if everyone else in front of me yells clear, until I see it's clear. I won't put my life in someone else's hands.

Let us know how he is doing.

Karen

[Grog]

This is truly awful... I hope he recovers fully.

Lots of lessons to ponder....

[Iris616]

Oh how terrible for every one. Thoughts for a thorough recovery. Please let us know how he is doing.

[aicabsolut]

That's terrible. I've encountered many similar situations as a pedestrian... someone waves you on, you hesitate because there are cars coming in the other lane, they get impatient, no one knows who should go, etc.

Happens to me all the time. I have to sit there and think, well, thanks for being nice, but there's a line of cars zooming past you in the other lane, so what do you want me to do?

Poor kid.

[rij73]

I fell victim to a similar situation when driving once. I was coming out of a parking lot, a city bus waved me out, but there was a car passing the bus that slammed right into my driver's side. It happened really fast.

I really feel for the kid. I wish he had been better educated about safe riding! Hope he makes a full recovery. He could have easily been killed...