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4/14/2005: 10-yr old fifth grader from Oak Forest Elementary - 2005/04/15 06:29
From Houston Chronicle, as posted by Scott Newsom in Bikehouston @ Yahoogroups.
10-year-old boy struck and killed by SUV after leaving school
By ZEKE MINAYA
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
A 10-year-old boy on a bike was killed after being struck then pinned underneath a sports utility vehicle in northwest Houston today, authorities said.
The accident occurred at about 2:50 p.m. in the 4300 block of Oak Forest Drive.
The boy, a fifth grader from nearby Oak Forest Elementary, was riding north against traffic when he was struck by an SUV pulling out of a nearby parking lot, said Houston Police Capt. Dwayne Ready.
HPD is investigating the incident as an accident.
A school official said there were two crossing guards on duty at the time and police have not charged the driver.
The boy's family was not at the scene, but parents from the elementary school, which had just let out, gathered to watch rescuers attempt to lift the car. Many said they were shaken by the accident.
Jose Rodriguez, who has a 9-year-old daughter at the school, said the accident worried him.
"I feel really bad and really concerned about the safety of the kids," said Rodriguez, 42.
Sam Stengler, a nearby resident, said the intersection of 43rd and Oak Forest near the elementary has long been a concern there.
"I liken it to Buffalo Speedway — it's a major thoroughfare right through a neighborhood," Stengler said. "People go quite fast. We ask constables and HPD periodically if they're gonna have people with radars to catch these people, especially since they've lowered the speed limit to 30."
Parents at the accident scene also said they were also concerned about the busy intersection, with the school on the south side of the intersection and a small shopping mall on the other.
HPD contacted the boys' parents who were very upset, Ready said.
School officials said that the boys' teachers described him as a very well mannered, polite boy. The school, across the street from the accident site, has about 744 students.
Rony Oppermann, 58, was driving west on 43rd Street when he came across the accident.
He pulled into a parking lot where firefighters, who were attending to the boy, asked him for a car jack to try to lift the SUV. The boy was struck under its rear axle. Oppermann said firefighters were talking to the boy.
"I'm really shaken up by this,"Oppermann. "You could tell there was somebody under there, you could see his shadow."
He added that within about a half-hour rescue efforts ceased and the firefighters covered up the back end of the SUV, where the boy was still pinned.
"I feel sad for the boy," Oppermann said.
Chronicle reporter Rosanna Ruiz contributed to this article.
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