A six-year-old Oregon child was injured in a crosswalk accident in Forest Grove earlier this month – highlighting the need for pedestrians and drivers alike to exercise extra caution whenever children and moving vehicles are present in the same area.
According to an account in the Forest Grove News-Times, “police said the accident happened… as the child walked with a family member across the street in a crosswalk. The child was walking ahead of the adult and was struck by a Ford Explorer.”
The victim was taken to Oregon Health and Science University Hospital and treated for what were described by the paper as “non-life threatening” injuries. The truck’s 33-year old driver “was cited for failing to yield to a pedestrian and driving with a suspended license.”
Leaving aside the fairly obvious observation that people whose licenses have been suspended ought not to be behind the wheel of a car in the first place, this incident is a reminder of how easily injuries to Oregon children can occur. Particularly when a child is small, it takes only a moment of inattention for events to move rapidly toward a tragedy.
In this particular case we can all take solace from the reports that the injuries to the six-year-old are not life-threatening. Even that phrase, however, can conceal a tremendous variety of possibilities. An Oregon child injury attorney can help families from Forest Grove, Portland or elsewhere in the state sort through their options in the wake of traumas like these. Obtaining justice is often more easily envisioned than it is accomplished. Families weighing their options require skilled and experienced legal advice as they consider the best ways to proceed in the wake of an Oregon child injury.
Forest Grove News-Times: Child crossing E Street injured by SUV