CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – A 15-year-old was still in a hospital recovering from serious injuries Friday after he was struck by a car on Blanding Boulevard in Clay County Thursday while biking to school, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Troopers said early Thursday morning, a woman was driving in the left lane of southbound Blanding Boulevard, approaching the intersection of Knight Boxx Road and Oak Lane.
As she drove through the intersection, the left front of her car struck the 15-year-old boy riding a bicycle who was attempting to cross the road, FHP said.
According to the FHP report, the boy, from Orange Park, was thrown from the bicycle. The woman, also from Orange Park, pulled to the left and stopped to help him.
The 15-year-old was transported to Orange Park Medical Center with serious injuries.
FHP said the fact that the boy was wearing a helmet may have prevented this crash from being worse.
Crime and Safety Analyst Tom Hackney echoed FHP’s statement, saying the helmet likely protected the teen from more injuries.
“As a parent, you just need to make sure that some of the rules of the road are if you are going to do this you’re going to have that helmet,” Hackney said. “You think of what the outcome of this particular crash could have been if this one had not had his helmet on.”
Children under 16 years old are required to wear a helmet.
Hackney also said that drivers need to get back in the habit of expecting children on the roads now that school is back in session.
“Honestly, they need to expect the unexpected. Expect especially at those times in the morning, and those times in the afternoon morning can go from this time at 6 almost up to 9 o’clock depending on what time the school lets in,” Hackney said. “They need to be very familiar with the route they travel and expect that anywhere around the school or neighborhoods that could lead to the school to expect just what happened a bicyclist, a child on a bike going to school it’s going to be, really it could be anywhere and in this intersection, it’s just an example, of things that were seemingly done right. The child on the bike had a helmet on and was crossing at an intersection.”
The crash is still under investigation, and the last update from FHP said the teen was in serious condition, but stable.
At some point, the Florida Department of Transportation will also investigate the crash.
“As is standard operating procedure, FDOT reviews all reported crashes on state roadways and interstates – a special emphasis is placed on fatalities and crashes with injuries. If there are improvements that can be made to enhance the safety of the facilities, FDOT will work to implement the improvements. This process includes careful analysis by professional engineers and other evaluations that may be warranted. This could include enhanced pavement markings, signage, crosswalk improvements among other applications to the roadway.
Our hearts break whenever we learn of a serious injury on the roadway. To that end, reviewing crash reports is critical to understanding causation and prevention of crashes. As the recent crash at Blanding Boulevard and Oak Street is pending investigation, FDOT respectfully refers media inquiries to law enforcement on the most recent incident and information that may be available.”
Hampton Ray, FDOT Community Outreach Manager
A family member reached out to News4JAX about the crash but we haven’t heard back from her to get an update on the boy’s condition.