Thursday, September 29, 2005

Boy on bike hit by car, driver drives away

This morning on my way to work, I pulled into the left lane to make a turn at an intersection with traffic lights. It's where two minor but busy roads meet. As I pulled into the long left turn lane, I saw a bike on it's side between the pedestrian crossing lines ahead of me. A car was pulled over to the side on my left. A boy picked up the bike and pushed it to the sidewalk on my right.

The driver was getting out of her car but clearly reluctant to walk towards the boy. I wasn't sure what had happened at this point. I crossed the road to see if the boy was OK.

As I approached him, he was mostly interested in getting his chain back in place. I said, "Are you OK?"

He took a few seconds to reply, then said "Yes."

I said, "Did you get hit?"

"Yes." He continued to work on his chain.

I looked back at the car, where the woman was getting back into her car. She drove away.

I couldn't get the license plate. It was a medium-dark grey new looking sedan. Possibly a Volvo, judging by the size and shape of the logo on the centre of the trunk.

I told the boy he needed to report it to the police. He didn't answer me.

The boy started to leave. I asked if he was sure he was OK, and he said yes. He didn't seem to want any help or to talk to me.

I talked to a woman walking her dog as I left. She saw the boy get hit. She was shocked that the driver didn't even go talk to the boy.

I've reported it to the police, but it sounds like nothing will happen since neither the boy nor the driver reported it to the police. The police confirmed for me that the woman was required to make sure the boy was OK before she left. Since it seems that he may not have been hurt (enough to complain), she may be in the clear.

(For Toronto folks: this was at the corner of Maxome and Cummer)

Darren J 9/29/2005 10:07:00 a.m.

2 Comments:

It's a good thing I check my sitemeter thing periodically, as I noticed this bikerefugee thing today and found the new webpage of a highschool buddy. Cool. You write very well, Darren. I'm looking forward to keeping up with your writings and bike adventures. Thanks for linking me. Joe.
Interesting hit I had today for my blog - which matched because it wasn't in quotes, a search for the words:
cars hitting children on bikes under canadian law

People sadden me.

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