Yesterday, my nephew and his 2 friends were riding those little scooters with the motor that everybody has now days. They left my parents house and went around the block a few times. One of the kids lost control and was hit by a truck and killed. It happened about 100 yards from where I grew up. If anybody out there has any kids, family, friends or anybody out there that they care about, make sure they know how to ride these before you let them get on it. You are supposed to be 16, but I know alot of younger kids are riding them. All of them were wearing helmets, but a helmet can't go up against a truck. Be safe....
Here's the story.
By J.M. BROWN, Times-Herald staff writer
A 12-year-old Vallejo boy was killed Saturday when he fell from a motorized scooter and slipped under a truck near a Central Vallejo intersection, police said.
Police declined to release the child's identity.
Two friends of the boy, 11 and 12, who were riding with him in a pack, were not injured, police said. The driver of the truck, Robert Whited, 50, of Vallejo, was also not hurt.
Police characterized the accident as a tragic example of the dangers posed to children who are too young to operate motorized scooters alongside vehicular traffic.
State law says no one under the age of 16 is permitted to operate the scooters.
"We try not to pick on these scooter kids," said Officer Gordon Moore, who investigated the accident. "We get all kind of flak from parents. This is exactly why we enforce these things."
The accident occurred at about 10:50 a.m. when the three boys were each riding scooters northbound on Amador Street, Moore said. All three were wearing bicycle helmets.
As the trio approached the intersection with Nebraska Street, one of the boys turned right and headed east on Nebraska.
As the second boy stopped at the stop sign to allow Whited's truck to turn onto Nebraska, the third boy's hand brake failed and he charged into the intersection, Moore said.
The scooter fishtailed as the boy struggled to regain control, Moore said. The boy dragged his foot on the ground trying to stop the scooter.
After turning onto Nebraska, Whited was about 25 feet up the street in his 1986 Ford truck when the victim fell from the scooter and rolled underneath the truck's right rear tire, Moore said.
Whited was not speeding and the truck never hit the scooter, Moore said.
The boy was taken to Sutter Solano Medical Center with massive head injuries and was pronounced dead. The impact with the tire broke right through the bicycle helmet, Moore said.
Whited and the boy who witnessed the entire incident were shaken, Moore said.
Besides the grieving relatives of the victim, the gravity of the incident also sank in for the mother of the boy who watched his friend get killed, Moore said. All three scooters carried a bright sticker warning those under 16 to stay off.
"She said she knew (about the law) and said 'He's never driving it again,' " Moore said. Scooters are dangerous even when they aren't competing with vehicle traffic, Moore told her.
"But what if he just fell? It's like getting pushed out of car at 25 mph," Moore said. "Her only consolation to me was that at least he had his helmet on. So did the victim, but it's a bicycle helmet."
Besides the age and helmet requirements, state law also says scooters are not to be operated at speeds greater than 15 mph or on streets with speed limits of 25 mph or higher unless there is a bike lane. Moore said there is no indication the boys were traveling at 15 mph or more, but Amador and Nebraska both carry 25 mph speed limits and there are no bike lanes.
Even if the boys were the proper age, young children and teenagers are too young to be traveling alongside vehicles, Moore said.
"They should be licensed," Moore said of scooter operators, many of whom don't understand road signs and the concept of right of way.
"Most adults don't know most of the vehicle code. How are kids supposed to remember it?"
Here's the story.
By J.M. BROWN, Times-Herald staff writer
A 12-year-old Vallejo boy was killed Saturday when he fell from a motorized scooter and slipped under a truck near a Central Vallejo intersection, police said.
Police declined to release the child's identity.
Two friends of the boy, 11 and 12, who were riding with him in a pack, were not injured, police said. The driver of the truck, Robert Whited, 50, of Vallejo, was also not hurt.
Police characterized the accident as a tragic example of the dangers posed to children who are too young to operate motorized scooters alongside vehicular traffic.
State law says no one under the age of 16 is permitted to operate the scooters.
"We try not to pick on these scooter kids," said Officer Gordon Moore, who investigated the accident. "We get all kind of flak from parents. This is exactly why we enforce these things."
The accident occurred at about 10:50 a.m. when the three boys were each riding scooters northbound on Amador Street, Moore said. All three were wearing bicycle helmets.
As the trio approached the intersection with Nebraska Street, one of the boys turned right and headed east on Nebraska.
As the second boy stopped at the stop sign to allow Whited's truck to turn onto Nebraska, the third boy's hand brake failed and he charged into the intersection, Moore said.
The scooter fishtailed as the boy struggled to regain control, Moore said. The boy dragged his foot on the ground trying to stop the scooter.
After turning onto Nebraska, Whited was about 25 feet up the street in his 1986 Ford truck when the victim fell from the scooter and rolled underneath the truck's right rear tire, Moore said.
Whited was not speeding and the truck never hit the scooter, Moore said.
The boy was taken to Sutter Solano Medical Center with massive head injuries and was pronounced dead. The impact with the tire broke right through the bicycle helmet, Moore said.
Whited and the boy who witnessed the entire incident were shaken, Moore said.
Besides the grieving relatives of the victim, the gravity of the incident also sank in for the mother of the boy who watched his friend get killed, Moore said. All three scooters carried a bright sticker warning those under 16 to stay off.
"She said she knew (about the law) and said 'He's never driving it again,' " Moore said. Scooters are dangerous even when they aren't competing with vehicle traffic, Moore told her.
"But what if he just fell? It's like getting pushed out of car at 25 mph," Moore said. "Her only consolation to me was that at least he had his helmet on. So did the victim, but it's a bicycle helmet."
Besides the age and helmet requirements, state law also says scooters are not to be operated at speeds greater than 15 mph or on streets with speed limits of 25 mph or higher unless there is a bike lane. Moore said there is no indication the boys were traveling at 15 mph or more, but Amador and Nebraska both carry 25 mph speed limits and there are no bike lanes.
Even if the boys were the proper age, young children and teenagers are too young to be traveling alongside vehicles, Moore said.
"They should be licensed," Moore said of scooter operators, many of whom don't understand road signs and the concept of right of way.
"Most adults don't know most of the vehicle code. How are kids supposed to remember it?"
