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Scooter rider, 7, injured in vehicle accident

Jenny Goldsmith
Sierra Sun
Jenny Goldsmith/Sierra SunTruckee Police Officer Arnie Lopez displays safety helmets similar to that worn by a 7-year-old scooter rider, who was injured in a collision with a car Sunday in Glenshire. Police credited the helmet in limiting his injuries.
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On Sunday, Truckee Police and Fire Department officials responded to reports that a 7-year-old boy had been struck by a vehicle on a residential street in Glenshire.

Grateful investigators said the boy narrowly escaped more serious injuries. Two youths have died in the Truckee area in similar accidents in little more than a year.

A preliminary investigation of Sunday’s accident determined that the boy had been riding his Razor scooter down a driveway and into the road, where he struck the side of a passing vehicle, authorities said in a department news release.



“This was a really close call and the kid was exceptionally lucky,” said Truckee Police Sgt. Jason Litchie in a phone interview Monday. “The vehicle was a big pickup and a split-second difference could have caused him to hit the front of the vehicle instead of the side, which would have been traumatic.”

The child was wearing a safety helmet, which cracked and separated in two locations, indicating a significant impact to the head. Emergency personnel transported the boy to Tahoe Forest Hospital, where he was released after being treated for minor bruises and scrapes, Litchie stated in the release.



The driver of the vehicle was not found in violation of any laws and was evidently driving safely, authorities said.

“The point of this release is to stress the importance of watching out for kids safety,” Litchie said.

In February, a 4-year-old boy visiting Truckee with his Bay Area family was killed while sledding down a driveway into oncoming traffic ” an accident Litchie believes could have been avoided if parents were more cautious.

“It’s real simple,” said Litchie. “The driveway is just not a safe place for kids to play because when someone looks away for just one second, that’s when tragedy occurs.”

In July 2006, 10-year-old Sam Brixey of Truckee died when the go-cart he was riding in overturned on a private dirt road near Verdi. The boy was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.


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