A 7-year-old boy is recovering after being struck by a vehicle in an apparent hit-and-run Sunday in the Forest Park neighborhood of northwest Baltimore, according to police. Officers said the child’s injuries are not life-threatening and he is expected to survive, a rare bit of good news in a situation that could easily have turned tragic.
Police say vehicle was found nearby
Officers were called to the 3800 block of W. Forest Park Avenue, where they found the injured child and a chaotic scene. Not far from the collision site, police located a vehicle and requested a tow as investigators worked the area, CBS Baltimore reports.
Pedestrian risk in Baltimore
The incident lands in a city that already struggles with pedestrian safety. State crash data from the Maryland Highway Safety Office’s Zero Deaths Maryland program shows the state sees roughly 3,000 pedestrian-involved crashes each year, with Baltimore accounting for about 31% of those incidents in recent years. It is a sobering share that underscores how risky it can be to walk city streets. Officials with the program point to slower vehicle speeds and targeted street design as key tools to reduce the severity of collisions, according to Zero Deaths Maryland.
Investigators have released few details
So far, police have released little about who might have been behind the wheel. News outlets report that no suspect information or possible charges had been shared publicly at the time, and the department has not issued a suspect description or announced an arrest, CBS Baltimore notes.
City planning and safety work continue
The crash also arrives as Baltimore tries to rework some of its most dangerous streets. The city recently secured nearly $10 million in federal planning funds for the Baltimore City Complete Streets Demonstration Program, money intended to pilot safety projects along high-injury corridors. Officials plan to test temporary traffic changes, quick-build complete-streets improvements and gather community feedback to see how those tweaks affect crash patterns, according to the Rails to Trails Conservancy.
