Girl hit by car in Arlington Heights
A 9-year-old girl was lucky to be conscious, breathing and answering questions Wednesday evening after she got hit by a car while crossing a street in Arlington Heights, authorities said.
The girl "appears to be OK" after the crash about 7:30 p.m. on Arlington Heights Road at St. James Street, just north of downtown Arlington Heights, police Sgt. Thomas Henderson said. The driver who hit her, whom police have not yet publicly named, has been cited with failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
The girl was with a group of other kids her age and adults at North School Park, likely checking out holiday decorations that are in place but not yet illuminated for the season, Henderson said.
The group went to a crosswalk at St. James Street to head east across Arlington Heights Road, and the girl entered the street when a southbound vehicle in the lane closest to the curb stopped.
"The vehicle in the center lane did not see that somebody was in the crosswalk, kept going and hit the child," Henderson said.
When Henderson and other officers arrived on the scene, the girl had fallen onto the pavement after first being lifted onto the hood of the sedan that hit her, which was occupied only by its driver.
"Sometimes it's better when you're lifted off the ground and thrown because then your body isn't absorbing the crash," Henderson said. "It's one of those lucky things. Physics kind of worked in the girl's favor, here."
The girl, who was the only person injured in the crash, was taken to the hospital by the Arlington Heights Fire Department, Battalion Chief Andrew Larson said.
The speed limit at the intersection, two blocks south of Euclid Avenue, is 30 mph, so police assume that's how fast the sedan was traveling when it struck the girl.
"That's still a pretty significant speed to get hit," Henderson said.
The crosswalk at St. James Street and Arlington Heights Road is marked, both on the pavement and with "pretty predominant signs," Henderson said. The signs are meant to caution drivers that pedestrians might be present.
"Drivers travel a path," Henderson said, "and take those signs for granted."