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2009News

Texting Cyclist Struck By Car

By October 19, 2009October 18th, 2021No Comments

The Vancouver Sun: Texting cyclist struck by car

BY TREVOR WILHELM, THE WINDSOR STAROCTOBER 19, 2009COMMENTS (14)

Several teenagers witnessed a horrifying sight outside Holy Names school Monday when a student was hit by a car while riding his bike and playing with his cellphone at the same time.

The 16-year-old student suffered what police called “serious” head trauma and lacerations. They later said the injuries weren’t life threatening and he was in stable condition at Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital.

“He was sending a text on his phone, traffic was coming from both ways,” said student Rob Fogolin, who saw the accident and knows the victim. “He dodged traffic from the first lane, then this car came from the other way. He tried to dodge it. He hit him head on, then he was airborne. It was scary to see someone like that I know.”

The accident happened around 2:30 p.m. on Northwood Street next to the school property.

Police blocked off access to Northwood at Dominion Boulevard, causing long traffic backups.

There was a baseball hat and blood-soaked clothing laying in a pile on the pavement. The victim’s bicycle, with a bent back wheel and a shoe resting on it, was on the ground behind another car parked along the curb.

Fogolin said it looked like either the victim or his bicycle bounced off the back of that vehicle before hitting the pavement.

He said paramedics arrived on the scene and started doing CPR on the street.

“I heard them say ‘we have a pulse, we have a pulse,’ then he opened his eyes and they put him on a stretcher,” said Fogolin.

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