A juvenile was left in critical condition Friday night after being struck by a vehicle near the intersection of West 10th Street and North Girls School Road on Indianapolis' west side. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were dispatched to the scene shortly before 7 p.m. following a reported serious bodily injury crash, and the juvenile was taken to an area hospital afterward.
According to Fox 59, officers arrived to find that a juvenile had reportedly been struck by a vehicle, and a crash investigator was brought in to assist at the scene. The driver remained at the location and cooperated with investigators, per IMPD, and the crash investigator spoke directly with the driver of the involved vehicle. Police have not confirmed the juvenile's age, and the incident remains under active investigation.
Driver Taken for Blood Draw as Part of Standard Procedure
The driver was also transported to an area hospital, where they received a blood draw. IMPD described the test as standard procedure following crashes involving serious injuries, a step that reflects mandatory state law rather than any indication of wrongdoing. Under Indiana Code § 9-30-7-3, officers are required to offer a chemical or portable breath test to any driver involved in a crash resulting in serious bodily injury or death, within three hours of the incident.
Should the juvenile in this crash turn out to be a minor driver rather than the pedestrian struck, additional legal safeguards would apply — the Indianapolis Bar Association notes that a 2022 Court of Appeals ruling in *L.W. v. State* requires both parental consent and a private parent-child consultation before a blood draw can be performed on an underage driver. Separately, if investigators ultimately determine the driver was impaired, Hessler Law notes that operating a vehicle while intoxicated and causing serious bodily injury is a Level 6 felony under Indiana law, carrying six months to 2.5 years in prison and fines up to $10,000. Nothing in the current investigation indicates impairment was a factor.
A Corridor With a Troubled Recent History
Friday's crash is the latest in a series of severe incidents along this stretch of Indianapolis' west side. On January 1, an 18-year-old pedestrian was struck and killed near West 10th Street and North Bauman Street, according to WTHR, along the same major east-west arterial. Just days before that, on December 26, a female pedestrian was killed in a hit-and-run less than two miles away on South Girls School Road near Rockville Road, a case Hoodline previously covered as police hunted for the driver months later.
The corridor's dangers have not gone unnoticed by city officials. In May, the Indianapolis Department of Public Works announced a $30.5 million reconstruction project for Girls School Road aimed at adding multi-use paths, sidewalk improvements, and upgraded drainage — a plan Hoodline detailed in its report on the city's overhaul of Girls School Road.
City's Vision Zero Push Faces a Stubborn High Injury Network
The crash also lands amid Indianapolis' broader push to eliminate traffic deaths. The City-County Council passed a Vision Zero ordinance in August 2024 aiming to end all traffic fatalities and serious injuries on city roads by 2035, a policy that includes a dedicated task force and a $300 million capital investment plan. The city recorded 85 traffic fatalities in 2025, down from more than 120 during the pandemic peak, though pedestrians and cyclists still made up over 30% of those deaths, with 24 pedestrians killed, according to statistics compiled by ThatCarHitMe.com.
A review by the Indianapolis Vision Zero Task Force found that roughly 5% of city streets — about 205 of the city's 8,400 total lane miles — account for nearly half of all fatal and incapacitating crashes citywide, per the same analysis. Arterials like West 10th Street and Girls School Road fall within that so-called High Injury Network, where pedestrian infrastructure is often sparse and traffic speeds run high. Statewide, the picture has improved somewhat: preliminary data cited by WFYI showed Indiana's pedestrian fatality rate fell nearly 38% in early 2025 compared to the year before, giving the state a rate of 0.48 deaths per 100,000 residents against a national average of 0.90.
For now, investigators are still working to determine exactly what led to Friday's crash. Police have not released the juvenile's age or condition beyond the initial report that they remain in critical condition, and the case remains under active investigation.
-4.webp?w=160&h=400&fit=crop&crop=edges)