this was right by my house! about 6 blocks away, and it is on my route to work. i usually have my cell phone attached to my handlebars so i can call 911 if i see any yellow suv's missing a mirror and/or headlight

http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_082406_news_child_struck.2ff79f1d.html

I saw this on the news tonight. What a scumbag! Hits a child and drives away...

:mad:

:(

I hope he'll pull through. Poor little guy. It scares me because my Godson is just about to turn one, and i think of him being out there riding someday...

I can understand that accidents happen, that kids dart in front of cars sometimes (although we don't know what happened in this case), but driving off like that? That's cold...

ironically, during the news show that aired this story, there was a commercial for a Nissan Xterra (the suspected vehicle) and the SUV in the commercial happened to be yellow (the color in question) though during the news report they never showed a picture of the car to look for...

Any news on the little guy? This story makes me sick...

nope no updates yet.

they found the driver and the car:
http://katu.com/stories/88678.html

they found the driver and the car:
http://katu.com/stories/88678.htmlI hope the 7 year old boy will have a full and speedy recovery.

And I hope the 15 year old boy will have years to think about what he's done before he's ever allowed to drive again.

I hope the 7 year old boy will have a full and speedy recovery.

And I hope the 15 year old boy will have years to think about what he's done before he's ever allowed to drive again.

Makes one wonder, what in the name of E Gad Zooks, D.O.P.E is a 15 year old is doing driving a motor vehicle, without requiring adult supervision?

Makes one wonder, what in the name of E Gad Zooks, D.O.P.E is a 15 year old is doing driving a motor vehicle, without requiring adult supervision?
Probably stole it, even if it was from his parents. Kids do thsi more than most people realize and its a real issue.

sad......

watched some of the press conference, brought flash-backs of personal tbi (traumatic Brain Injury) 1977/coma 31days. rehab individually was special for me, 2 years (yrs). pt (physical therapist) was at our wedding 13 years later! with the other rehab (occupation tx-therapy and speach tx), i graduated hs (high school) 2.5 yrs post (after) tbi .

i feel for Tryvor and hope his age/level of tbi, and attending team, will assist in his positive rehab.

? was he wearing a helmet? how badly was it damaged? (i was not - car 1977 v/w ((BUG)) vs pole.) i was domed with Bell Image when hit in 1999. saved my life! i endorce use of helmets!

ride safe,

t

was he wearing a helmet?No.

mlh122, what's your take on the assertions in some of the reports that motorists go way too fast on this road and that it's due to being the only one in the area with no speed bumps?

mlh122, what's your take on the assertions in some of the reports that motorists go way too fast on this road and that it's due to being the only one in the area with no speed bumps?

well the whole neighborhood is pretty new as it used to just be country roads, so now many of the drivers i see are either rural kids with big 4x4 trucks on their way to or from 4x4'ing in the woods (often drunk), and kids whose parents buy them nice cars and don't require them to work or have any activities so they just get bored and like to pretend their in "Fast and the Furious" all the time, or adults that are in a big hurry and no one else's safety will get in their way. actually just last week there was some kid in a honda that tried to scare my wife and i by swerving into the bike lane at 50mph on a 35mph road, we weren't in the bike lane, we were on the sidewalk, if anyone was in the bike lane they woulda been toast. after that my wife said they might as well take the bike lanes out and widen the roads because she doesn't want to ride in the bike lane anymore. but yeah i can vouch that motorists (not just kids) drive pretty recklessly around here, cops don't really do anything about it. my cousin is a "floor it and steer later" driver, he's totalled 6 cars (by age 24) and pays about $660 monthly for just liability insurance... and he still has his license, its never been even suspended as a matter of fact, i think it should have been revoked a long time ago, a few months ago he was considering getting a crotch rocket bike, i fully supported him, i hope it will teach him to be a little more cautious and defensive in his driving, or get his license permanently revoked then i'll have another cycling buddy

my cousin is a "floor it and steer later" driver, he's totalled 6 cars (by age 24) and pays about $660 monthly for just liability insurance... and he still has his license, its never been even suspended as a matter of fact, i think it should have been revoked a long time ago, a few months ago he was considering getting a crotch rocket bike, i fully supported him, i hope it will teach him to be a little more cautious and defensive in his driving, or get his license permanently revoked then i'll have another cycling buddyWith that driving record, it will more likely get him dead. Donorcycles is what they call motorcycles in emergency.

adults that are in a big hurry and no one else's safety will get in their way.

Wow, that description really puts things into perspective. So, do you think the speed bumps help calm traffic on the other roads? Would it help on this one?

Blue Order, Donorcycles! i like that, thats funny. Thats why i don't have one, i wanted to get a lower powered fuel efficient motorcycle but i get hurt enough with my top speed being ~40mph so i stick with the bike, that and the whole point of riding my bike was hereditary high blood pressure and cholesterol, it runs on the cousin's side too but he doesn't really care. i keep warning him he's gonna wind up dead or in jail or riding a bike/bus exclusively if he doesn't start driving with care. My wife for instance has a v8 mustang that she races at Portland International Racing once in a while, but on the roads she is a good driver, never had a ticket or been in a wreck, except for when a drunk driver rear ended her at a red light...

donnamb, perhaps it would slow down the adults, but the kids seem to enjoy the speedbumps, my cousin for instance likes to speed up and hit speedbumps, especially the really big ones, he thinks its hilarious if some part of his car touches the ground.

donnamb, perhaps it would slow down the adults, but the kids seem to enjoy the speedbumps, my cousin for instance likes to speed up and hit speedbumps, especially the really big ones, he thinks its hilarious if some part of his car touches the ground.

That could be funny, if it's the bottom of something kinda important, especially when at some point later you come to a very quick stop, with the engine or tranny seized up, because you poked a hole in the oilpan:eek:

That's a mistake you make exactly once:D

That could be funny, if it's the bottom of something kinda important, especially when at some point later you come to a very quick stop, with the engine or tranny seized up, because you poked a hole in the oilpan:eek:

That's a mistake you make exactly once:D

one time he put it in reverse on a freeway, i don't know if he wasn't paying attention or did it for fun (i wouldn't put it past him to do something like that on purpose) but he said it spun in circles and the tranny fell out. My wife once accidentally put my honda civic in reverse doing 70 on a freeway but it didn't do anything, precious lockout feature :) she got scared/confused and then put it in Park!! it still didn't do anything. i put it back in drive and it acted like nothing happened. god bless safety features and those who invent them...

The one problem wih speed bumps is that some buses can't get over them. Otherwise, tehy are a great tool on residental streets, if well marked, so you can see em at night. They don't help much if no one can see them

i think we need worse penalties for speeding. like much much worse penalties. perhaps some sort of 3 strike rule, 1st ticket $150 2nd ticket $300, 3rd ticket $600 and 3 year license suspension. but there's no way they'll do that... and even if they did, many people would just drive without a license, for which the penalty is supposed to be jail time, but maybe they'd be more cautious

actually when the wife and I went to court to sue this lady (long story) we got there early to watch how other cases work, and we saw 3 cases, every one of them was a kid in his early 20's driving drunk without a license or insurance. Other unrelated details: all 3 were mexican, only 1 spoke english and 1 of the ones that didn't speak english had 3 kids in his car who weren't his and whose average age was 10, he said he was doing something noble by driving them home. the judge said thats really wierd that he was drunk driving strange children home... and that he was lucky she wasn't sticking him with a child endangerment charge or something more severe.

But the fact all 3 were young, drunk, driving without a license or insurance, and none of them got any jail time, they all got fined and community service, was really scary to me...

The one problem wih speed bumps is that some buses can't get over them. Otherwise, tehy are a great tool on residental streets, if well marked, so you can see em at night. They don't help much if no one can see them
Not a problem for the buses. Behold, C-Tran (http://www.c-tran.com/), our minimalist transit system. No routes there. Actually, if you look up 3700 NE 132nd Avenue, in Vancouver, WA, on Google maps, you'll notice the incredible concentration of housing for miles around. And miles to drive to get to anything you need. And no arterial routes to do it on. Everyone has their own shortcuts through the neighborhoods, since there isn't any other way to get around much of Vancouver if you or your destination aren't near a freeway.
For the most part, Vancouver is just farmland which has attracted rural development, which brought along high speed two lane roads with no shoulders, and then the housing density went through the roof. So now we're stuck with high traffic density on minimal width roads at 40-50 mph posted speed limits through neighborhoods. For example, I have a relative on 72nd Avenue who often waits ten minutes or more for enough space to pull out of the driveway.

Remember those movies in the 80's about the Soviet Union compared to America? That's what it's like for a cyclist living in Vancouver, right next door to Portland. I sometimes start thinking, this ain't so bad. It could be a lot worse. Then there's some article about one of the European cycling meccas, and a quote about how much they revere Portland's example of a bicycling friendly city. Oh, how I envy those capitalist pigdog bicyclists ten miles to the south...

If only we could make all the Vancouver WA residents leave their cars and trucks outside the city limits, Portland would be an even better place to bicycle.

If only we could make all the Vancouver WA residents leave their cars and trucks outside the city limits, Portland would be an even better place to bicycle.Imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth if Portland tore out all parking downtown and told people to take the train in. Especially considering that Vancouver voted down funding for the train. :roflmao:

If only we could make all the Vancouver WA residents leave their cars and trucks outside the city limits, Portland would be an even better place to bicycle.
If only you could convince them that they aren't saving $100 a month on property tax by living in Washington when they burn two gallons of gas every workday... What my neighbors lack in practical intelligence, they make up for tenfold with principle! Which is why they'll keep shooting down I-5 bridge repairs until we're dredging it up off the bottom of the Columbia, then blame Portland for the inconvenience. :p

Oh well, as long as they're over there, they won't be running me down over here! Ha! :D

On reading the story, it would seem that the kid rode onto the road from a parking lot. While I think that any legislature which allows a 15 yr. old to drive is certifiably barking, it seems as likely that the child on the bike was at least as likely to be he cause of the collision as the child driving the car

On reading the story, it would seem that the kid rode onto the road from a parking lot. While I think that any legislature which allows a 15 yr. old to drive is certifiably barking, it seems as likely that the child on the bike was at least as likely to be he cause of the collision as the child driving the car
1. I don't think the 15 year old was licensed to drive.

2. Since the victim is in a coma, we may never hear his side of the story.

3. Defensive drivers don't speed and are or should be prepared for kids on bikes to unexpectedly dart into the street. I doubt the driver had any training whatsoever, see #1.

On reading the story, it would seem that the kid rode onto the road from a parking lot. While I think that any legislature which allows a 15 yr. old to drive is certifiably barking, it seems as likely that the child on the bike was at least as likely to be he cause of the collision as the child driving the carThe 15 year old was probably driving without a license-- minimum age across the U.S. is 16, as far as I know.

It seems from the story that the 7 year old was at least partially to blame. However, it's unrealistic to expect 7 year olds to make adult decisions, which is why they're not held liable for their actions. Children dart in fron of cars, and have been doing so for as long as there have been cars. I would bet that before cars, they darted in front of horses, carriages, wagons, whatever was on the road. Drivers are required to keep a proper lookout for numerous things, including children darting out into the road, and drivers are required to drive at a reasonable speed for the conditions.

The 15 year old was probably unlicensed, and therefore unqualified to be operating a motor vehicle, and that is where the fault lies.

yep he might have had a learners permit but i don't think there's any situation that would legally put a 15 yr old in the driver's seat alone. it seems like this is kindof a snafu, since the driver, had he been a legal driver and properly trained, he might have been able to avoid the 7yr old, but we don't know at what point the kid rode into the road, it could have been not quite so much that the kid was in the road and the driver wasn't paying attention and hit him, it could have been that the driver was driving well and the kid just rode into the car, hit the headlight and took out the mirror, its tough to say who's at fault. ultimately, and legally, i think its still the driver's fault as there's no legal way he had a driver's license, perhaps a little of the fault should lie withthe parents of the 7yr old though, because I think its a law that any children under 18 riding a bike must be wearing a helmet, i remember when that law came out my parents were pretty strict about me wearing my helmet, and the report said the 7 yr old wasn't wearing a helmet. but its tough to say if a helmet would have kept him out of a coma. when i have kids, they're gonna ride bikes in a helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads. and just maybe a chest/back freeride gear if we don't have better behaving drivers by 2026...

I'm not sure what the law is in Washington, but in many states, even after a teen acquires a license, there are still restrictions on their ability to drive unsupervised. The bottom line is there's a learning curve involved in driving a vehicle that extends beyond operating the gas, brakes, and steering wheel, and this kid wasn't qualified to be behind the wheel.

maybe the mouth guards that football players wear too

I'm not sure what the law is in Washington, but in many states, even after a teen acquires a license, there are still restrictions on their ability to drive unsupervised. The bottom line is there's a learning curve involved in driving a vehicle that extends beyond the gas, brakes, and steering wheel, and this kid wasn't qualified to be behind the wheel.

yeah i don't know what they are either, but i remember my little brother complaining about it, there's other restrictions that kids have now until they're 18. i think if they're 16 they have to be driving to or from work, school, or something like a grocery store. if they're 17 its a little lighter, they can drive with friends if one of the friends is over 18, but no groups of 16 and 17 yr olds cruising around anymore... i think then when they're 18 they're unrestricted adult drivers. someone correct me if i'm wrong because i very well might be.

Maybe if we're all kitted out in full body armor, we'll look a lot tougher, and the term "biker" will take on a new connotation as motorists once again cringe at the thought of being confronted by a "biker." ;)

yeah i don't know what they are either, but i remember my little brother complaining about it, there's other restrictions that kids have now until they're 18. i think if they're 16 they have to be driving to or from work, school, or something like a grocery store. if they're 17 its a little lighter, they can drive with friends if one of the friends is over 18, but no groups of 16 and 17 yr olds cruising around anymore... i think then when they're 18 they're unrestricted adult drivers. someone correct me if i'm wrong because i very well might be.That's about what it is in states where i've seen it applied.

Children dart in fron of cars, and have been doing so for as long as there have been cars. I would bet that before cars, they darted in front of horses, carriages, wagons, whatever was on the road. Drivers are required to keep a proper lookout for numerous things, including children darting out into the road, and drivers are required to drive at a reasonable speed for the conditions.

Many literary works and even more not so literary works of fiction from the 18th, 19th, and early 20th century contain a gratuitous "child darts into the road and gets trampled by the horse and/or carriage/wagon" scene. Makes me think it was often on the minds of people in those days.

All this time, we've been told that children are brought by storks; clearly, they are brought by squirrels. ;)

I think the biggest deal is that the driver fled the scene. Even if it was a complete accident, even if it was unavoidable, the driver still fled the scene.

What I have noticed in 18 years living in Vancouver is an appalling tolerance for underage, unlicensed operation of motor vehicles. The kid who assaulted the 7 year old was FIFTEEN!!!!! I see very young looking teenagers on motorcycles, scooters, and as cagers. How wimpy are these kids and more to the point, what kind of subhumanly stupid hicks are producing them?

Clark County affidavit describes suspect truck
Accident - Part of a broken headlight appears to match a Nissan Frontier located near where a 7-year-old was hit

Tuesday, August 29, 2006
HOLLEY GILBERT
The Oregonian

VANCOUVER -- Police have matched a piece of broken headlight lens recovered at the scene of Thursday's hit-and-run accident to a pickup they located just blocks from where a 7-year-old Vancouver boy was critically injured while riding his bike, according to a court document.

Also, blue fibers were found on the 2000 Nissan Frontier's front and rear passenger-side fender flares, according to a search warrant affidavit filed Monday in Clark County District Court.

Trevor Wagner was wearing a blue shirt when he was hit by a vehicle as he rode his bike in the 3700 block of Northeast 132nd Avenue just before 11 a.m., the affidavit said.

Trevor remained in critical condition Monday at Legacy Emanuel Children's Hospital in Portland after undergoing surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain and repair a skull fracture.

The suspect in the hit-and-run accident, a 15-year-old boy, was questioned by police Friday and released to his parents' custody. He has not been arrested. The Nissan Frontier belongs to his family.

Police have not released the boy's name, but have said he is cooperating. It was unclear whether he had a learner's permit or anyone else was in the truck with him at the time.

Trevor was not wearing a helmet when he was hit.

Trevor was able to tell police he thought he was struck by a yellow vehicle. But police located the suspect truck, which is blue, during a house-by-house hunt of homes where Nissan Frontiers and Xterras are registered.

Police began looking for those vehicles after they took a black, plastic mirror found at the accident scene to Ron Tonkin Parts Center on Northeast Airport Way. An employee determined the mirror came from one of the two Nissan models, between 2000 and 2004, according to the affidavit.

Then, using a state Department of Licensing printout of all 2000-04 Frontiers and Xterras that were registered in Clark County as yellow or had no color listed, they began visiting homes in the four ZIP code areas closest to the accident scene, it said.

They found the truck in the attached garage of a ranch-style home several blocks away. The truck was missing the passenger side mirror and the front right headlight and the turn-signal assembly was damaged, with pieces of plastic missing. It has been impounded,

While at the home, an officer took a large piece of plastic found at the accident scene and held it to the broken light, the affidavit said. "This piece appeared to fit along the top edge of the damaged portion of the truck's headlight assembly," it said.

Police also noticed rubbing marks on the front fender flare and gouges on the rear fender flare, the affidavit said. "This damage appeared to be fresh, as the rest of the car was covered in a layer of dirt, and the damaged area was clean," it said.

Also, the wires to the side mirror assembly "appeared to be cleanly cut," not torn, and so did not match the wires in the mirror recovered in the street, the affidavit said. That suggests, the document said, "that additional parts or remains of the mirror may have been cut off of the vehicle in an attempt to conceal the crime."


©2006 The Oregonian

His ass is grass.

they filed charges against the driver:

http://www.kptv.com/news/9852620/detail.html


and i saw on the news the victim is doing well, he's not as good at talking as he was before, as the speech section of his brain was a little damaged, but he can form small sentences and was laughing at the press conference.

Poor little boy. I'm glad to hear he's improving.

We have speed humps on our street. I don't think they do any good. The already good drivers slow down for them. The speeders have learned that if they speed up to about 40 they can go over them without even feeling them. Trucks go over them and spill out all the nails and screws and loose construction materials out the back, making our street a death zone for tires.

However, if your street is the only one around without them, then the speeders will seek out your street, so maybe they are better than nothing.

Poor little boy. I'm glad to hear he's improving.

We have speed humps on our street. I don't think they do any good. The already good drivers slow down for them. The speeders have learned that if they speed up to about 40 they can go over them without even feeling them. Trucks go over them and spill out all the nails and screws and loose construction materials out the back, making our street a death zone for tires.

However, if your street is the only one around without them, then the speeders will seek out your street, so maybe they are better than nothing.

This was just a poorly skilled driver who wasn't trained properly on how to drive a car and who shouldn't have been without an adult in the first place. The news article in the Oregonian I saw said that the police estimate the driver was only going 20 to 25 mph when he hit the boy. Here is more info:

Boys face charges in hit-and-run incident (http://www.oregonlive.com/metronorth/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/metro_north_news/115828713140720.xml&coll=7)

It is quite possible that the accident was unavoidable, or the boy driving the car didn't have the skills to avoid it. In any case, they definitely left the scene and tried to cover it up.

What they need is a speed bump which is actually a plastic hump on a spring, and if they hit it hard (fast) enough, it pushes down far enough to expose the metal spikes inside and splits their tires.
It would also, by happy coincidence, enforce the "no vehicles over 4000 pounds on residential streets" rule that everyone ignores.

I knew a kid in HS (he was a freshman at the time) who went for a joy ride in his parents car. Nearly killed himself when he took an off ramp at 60 miles an hour. Shattered his leg, punctured his lung, and several other injuries. Luckily he didnt hurt anyone else, but he had to drop out of HS for a while to recover and cant get his permit or license until he is 30 or something crazy like that. I often saw him in physical therapy for his leg (i had a sports related injury). I dont know where kids get the idea they can do things like that - maybe their parents let them?

Maybe if we're all kitted out in full body armor, we'll look a lot tougher, and the term "biker" will take on a new connotation as motorists once again cringe at the thought of being confronted by a "biker." ;)

Whenever I'm riding in my neighbourhood, I'm usually decked out in full armour because I'm heading for the mountain bike trails in back of my house. ;) That's not going to stop some testosterone pumped teenager from trying to impress himself or his buddies/girlfriend/etc from peeling around blind corners and darting through the residential streets at 45 MPH.

Well I hope the kids ok, and that those 2 guys wont have their lives messed up permanently. I dont blame the two kids completly, though leaving the scene was a bad thing. Now if the driver did have some education on driving and could operate the vehicle in a somewhat safe manner, it is somewhat partially the kids fault for not wearing a helmet at a young age and entering the street, just a bad situation.. Perhaps massive community service and/or some counseling would be a better punishment.

I saw the kid that was hit on the news the other night, he's up and about and talking and doing much better. He's got a helluva scar on his head, though.