A child was struck by a car while crossing the road Wednesday afternoon in southern Oklahoma City, and officials say the child was alert and suffered injuries that were not life-threatening. The collision happened around 4:30 p.m. near Southeast 66th Street and South Shields Boulevard.
What Happened Near SE 66th and South Shields
According to News 9, the Oklahoma City Fire Department reported that the child remained alert after being hit, and was transported to a local hospital. Officials said the driver remained at the scene following the collision, according to the same report. Details about the child's age, identity, and the specific nature of the injuries have not been released.
It's also not yet known whether the crossing involved a marked crosswalk or traffic signal, and the report does not address fault or road conditions at the time of the collision. The station's account does not go further into how the incident unfolded beyond the time, location and outcome described above.
A Stretch of Road With a Troubled History
South Shields Boulevard has seen other pedestrian collisions in recent memory. In one case, a man in a wheelchair was struck and killed on South Shields Boulevard, with the driver dragging the wheelchair for two blocks before stopping, per KOCO. That driver was later arrested for leaving the scene of the fatal collision, the outlet reported. The same report noted that four people were struck by vehicles across Oklahoma City over a single 24-hour span, and two of them died.
A separate case documented by KOCO involved a young girl struck by a pickup truck in southeast Oklahoma City on a Saturday afternoon. Police said that collision happened near Southeast 59th Street and South Shields Boulevard, just before 3:10 p.m., as the girl and her teenage brother tried to cross the street. The girl suffered minor injuries, including broken teeth and a scratch on her leg, and was taken to a hospital for treatment; her brother and the pickup's driver were not hurt, according to the report.
Pedestrian Safety Remains a Statewide Concern
State transportation officials have pointed to troubling national trends around pedestrian safety. Citing figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety notes that a pedestrian is injured in a traffic crash every nine minutes on average nationwide, and killed every 71 minutes.
No further details about Wednesday's collision near Southeast 66th and South Shields have been released, and it remains unclear whether any citations resulted from the incident. Hoodline will share updates if officials release additional information about the child's condition or the circumstances of the crash.
