A 14-year-old Treasure Coast High School freshman remains in critical condition after being struck from behind by an SUV while walking to school early Wednesday morning in Port St. Lucie. The crash happened around 6 a.m. near the intersection of Southwest Port St. Lucie Boulevard and Southwest Squirrel Avenue, leaving the teen with life-threatening injuries.
According to cbs12.com, the freshman was walking northbound along Port St. Lucie Boulevard near the edge of the roadway, close to construction barrels set up in the area. He was struck from behind by a 2002 Ford Excursion driven by a 72-year-old man, the station reported.
The driver initially believed he had hit a construction barrel and did not realize he had struck a person, per the same account. He later made a U-turn and returned to the scene, where he found the teen unconscious on the side of the road and called 911, according to the station's report.
Investigation Remains Active as Police Seek Witnesses
Police have not observed apparent signs of impairment involving the driver, though officials stressed that the assessment is preliminary and could change as the investigation continues, the outlet noted. The Port St. Lucie Police Department's investigation remains active, and detectives are asking anyone with dash-camera, surveillance, or other video footage from the area to come forward.
As Treasure Coast News also reported, the boy was walking to Treasure Coast High School as a freshman when he was hit. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Port St. Lucie Police Department at 772-871-5000.
Not an Isolated Incident Along the Same Corridor
This is not the first time a Port St. Lucie teenager has been hit by an SUV along the same stretch of roadway. In a separate incident, a teenage girl was hospitalized after being struck by an SUV while walking south on Southwest Port St. Lucie Boulevard, according to cbs12.com. Responding officers found her conscious and breathing with a visible arm injury, and rescue crews determined her injuries did not appear to be life-threatening before she was airlifted to Saint Mary's Hospital for further evaluation.
A pedestrian was also killed in a vehicle collision on Southeast Port St. Lucie Boulevard in November 2025, prompting an ongoing investigation by local authorities, according to WPBF. The circumstances of that fatal crash have not been detailed beyond the initial report.
City Weighed Red-Light Cameras Amid Rising Traffic Deaths
By November 2025, traffic fatalities in Port St. Lucie had already surpassed the previous year's total, according to wflx.com. In response, the city's police department reviewed three years of traffic data to identify the 10 most dangerous intersections in Port St. Lucie, with three of those intersections located along Port St. Lucie Boulevard and three along St. Lucie West Boulevard.
City officials were moving forward with plans to install red-light cameras at those intersections, per wflx.com, though the proposal still required the City Council to approve the red-light-camera ordinance on a second reading before cameras could be deployed. Wednesday's crash adds another injury to a corridor that has drawn repeated scrutiny from both residents and city officials over pedestrian safety.
