Most every family with small children has experienced the fear of seeing their child injured by an automobile. As kids grow up, and depending on the proximity of the public roads in the neighborhood, the chances of a youngster running or riding their bike into the street increases as those children become more mobile and curious.
As parents and grandparents, our job becomes even more serious when we leave the confines of our homes to take the kids on walks and other family outings. The danger of a pedestrian accident involving a small child is ever present once we step outside. As Baltimore auto accident attorneys and Maryland personal injury lawyers, we hear about traffic collisions that involve grownups and youngsters alike.
A while back, a news article talked about a grandmother and her young grandson were hurt in a pedestrian-car accident while crossing a street near home. This type of traffic accident can easily result in death, and so this story has somewhat of a happy ending. But many survivors of pedestrian or bicycle traffic accidents can be months or years away from a full recovery.
Head, neck and spinal cord injuries are common, as are simple and compound fractures or internal injuries. Many times the cost of recovery can place extreme stress on a young family, especially if the victim was a primary breadwinner. In any case, it’s important to remember that crossing the street, even a so-called quiet neighborhood road can lead to tragic consequences if precautions are not taken in advance.
According to reports, that grandmother and young charge were crossing a street in Rockville, MD, around 7pm when they were hit by a passing car. Police reports indicate that the accident happened near the in intersection of Veirs Mill Rd and Atlantic Ave. The 60-year-old woman was reportedly pushing her 4-year-old grandson in a carriage but the two were apparently not in a crosswalk at the time of the crash.
The nearby intersection has a traffic light, which police said was green for the westbound vehicle that struck the two individuals. An eye witness sitting in her car in an adjacent parking lot said that she heard a noise, turned and saw the baby and its stroller being thrown into the air. Police said that the grandmother was also hit by the car during the crash.
The witness reportedly came to the aid of the victims, stating that the grandmother’s head was bleeding form the impact. According to the news article at the time, both the woman and her grandbaby were in stable condition having been taken to a local hospital for treatment of their injuries.
Grandmother and Grandchild Struck By Car in Rockville, MyFoxDC.com, December 14, 2010