GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Quick reaction by a 17-year-old driver kept a 7-year-old bicyclist from getting badly hurt when a small bike drove into the path of a full-size Chevy pickup right after school Wednesday.
The 2000 red Chevy pickup driven west on 40th Avenue South was approaching a stop sign at Cherry Street but swerved and stopped, trying to avoid the bike that came out of a driveway into the street at 3:18 p.m., shortly after school was let out.
The bike was eastbound on the sidewalk on the north side of 40th Avenue in the 600 block,then turned down a driveway and entered the street, hitting the front right corner of the pickup, said police officer Jason Dvorak. For almost an hour after, the bike's crumpled front tire lay under the truck's front right tire as police investigated the collision.
"We heard the tires screech and thought, 'Oh, oh,'" said Dylan Stevens, who lives next to where the accident happened. "We came out, and the kid was lying there, and I said, 'Something bad happen?' and then he sat up and started talking."
The bike rider didn't appear hurt at all, Stevens said.
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Kelly Elementary School is a few blocks up Cherry Street.
Dvorak said the boy had only minor injuries and was treated at the scene, then sent home with a parent.
The driver of the pickup, who is 17, waited for police to complete their initial investigation of the accident, also with a parent nearby.
"He actually did a good job," Dvorak said of the truck driver. "He was paying attention, and when he saw the bike, he turned left and hit his brakes."
The slight evasive action likely saved the bike rider from serious injury, Dvorak said.
"There will be no citations."
Police officers examined the right front corner of the truck's hood, apparently looking at a spot where the bike rider perhaps made contact with the truck.
The bike rider was not wearing a helmet, Stevens said.
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That concerns Carma Hanson, director of the Safe Kids Grand Forks project, a community-wide coalition housed in and mainly funded by Altru Health System.
"There is no law or city ordinance (mandating the wearing of helmets by young bikers)," Hanson said. "But the Grand Forks schools handbook recommends that until third grade, children don't ride bikes to school. Many schools don't enforce that, like sending the children home or something, but some schools do set rules."
The reason for that school rule is that research shows young children don't measure danger well enough on the street, Hanson said.
"Tons and tons of research shows that up to age 10, children don't have the cognitive ability to determine if it's safe to cross the street," Hanson said.
"They are totally reliant on the drivers of vehicles to make those decisions, by not pulling out when kids are crossing the street."
Last year, a first-grader was hit by a pickup truck near Ben Franklin Elementary School, Hanson said.
"The driver was in the right, he had the green light and everything, but the reality is, this little kid made a bad decision," Hanson said of the accident last year that resulted in no serious injury to the child.
And children of all ages riding bikes need to wear helmets, Hanson said.
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"You don't know when a crash is going to occur, so you just need to have that helmet on at all times. Helmets are really effective at preventing head injuries."
Safe Kids provides helmets at reduced prices, say $7, or even for free to families who can't afford them, Hanson said.
Get more information online at safekidsgf.com.
