September 25, 2012--Riverside, CA—A 7-year-old suffered serious head injury in an accident between a Razor-type scooter and a pickup truck on Friday, the Press Enterprise reports. The pedestrian accident took place around 5:00 p.m. on September 21.
The young girl allegedly hit the side of a pickup while riding her scooter on Climbing Rose Drive near Scarlet Sage Way, according to Riverside County sheriff’s officials. She was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, and was taken to a local hospital with critical injuries. No one in the pickup truck was injured.
Authorities have called in the Moreno Valley Traffic Accident Reconstruction Team to study the evidence from the crash. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Moreno Valley Sheriff’s office.
My prayers and thoughts go out to this young victim and I hope she will have a speedy and full recovery.
Scooter and Skateboard Accidents Affect Youth
The United States Consumer Products Safety Commission estimates that about 15,000 people each year suffer head injuries on kick scooters and about 18,500 suffer head injuries from skateboards. The majority of these accidents involve people who are not wearing helmets. In fact, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety estimates that 95 percent of fatalities for bicycles and other “pedi-cycle” devices occur with people who are not wearing helmets.
Clearly these figures have implications for youth, who are most likely to use Razor-type scooters, skateboards, and other wheeled conveyances, and who are least likely to wear helmets without parental supervision or intervention. There seems to be a false sense of security attached to scooters and skateboards because children can keep one foot on the ground while operating them, but as this story shows, losing control of a scooter or skateboard can have effects as serious as those of losing control of a bicycle.
Will This Driver Be Charged?
The wording of the news story indicates that the authorities are not considering the driver to be at fault in this accident. Therefore, it is unlikely, unless the accident investigation reveals new information, that the driver will be charged with criminal activity in this accident.
What About Liability?
Liability, however, is a different issue. It is the responsibility of drivers under California law to avoid collisions with pedestrians. A professional pedestrian accident attorney in Riverside should examine the facts of this case and determine if the girl’s family can collect damages to pay for her injuries.