An 8-year-old boy was hit by a truck at the intersection of Opal Court and Old Military Road Sunday morning. He was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with life-threatening injuries, according to Kitsap County Sheriff’s spokesman Scott Wilson.
The boy was listed in serious condition at the hospital Sunday evening.
The crash was the second over the weekend involving serious injuries to bicyclists. A 53-year-old Poulsbo man was flown to Harborview on Saturday after the driver of a minivan ran into him on Lemolo Shore Drive. Poulsbo Fire Department medics who treated him said the man was in critical condition at the time.
The 8-year-old was riding his bike downhill on Goldstone Lane, which intersects with Old Military Road and continues down the hill as Opal Court. He was not wearing a helmet.
Witnesses told Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue medics that the boy was with a group of children looking for a lost dog, Battalion Chief Joseph Repar said.
Preliminary reports indicate the 30-year-man driving the Ford F-250 pickup was going the speed limit, 35, said Sgt. Jim Porter of the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, who was on the scene. The driver had a 6-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl in the truck with him.
According to Wilson drugs, alcohol and excessive speed were ruled out as factors in the crash.
“”The child on the bike entered onto the roadway from a side street so quickly and without warning, the driver had no time to react,”” Wilson said.
The intersection is an accident waiting to happen, according to neighbors.
Eileen Peterson, who was walking her dog along the road shortly after the crash, said she herself has almost hit children on bicycles coming down Goldstone. The area is full of children, and many use Goldstone as a shortcut to Cottonwood Elementary School, she said.
“”It’s a hill coming back down, and they’re coming very fast. They don’t always stop. Ninety-nine percent of the time they don’t stop coming down the hill, and the cars don’t go 35,”” Peterson said. “”It’s just a sad situation. The driver was beside himself. We can only hope and pray for the best.””
Old Military Road was closed for more than an hour as the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office investigated the accident.
This story has been corrected. The bicyclist was coming down Goldstone Lane, which becomes Opal Court after the Old Military Road intersection.