A 12-year-old bicyclist is expected to survive after being struck, trapped underneath a Dodge pickup truck, and dragged a short distance near Van Dyke and Meadow avenues in Warren on Thursday afternoon. The boy was crossing Meadow Avenue around 4 p.m. when the pickup turned southbound onto Van Dyke Avenue and hit him, pinning him beneath the vehicle before it came to a stop.
Warren firefighters removed the child from underneath the pickup at the scene, according to ClickOnDetroit | WDIV Local 4, and Warren Fire Department personnel then transported him to a local hospital. Nearby police agencies helped block traffic along the transport route to speed the trip. The boy was listed in stable condition at a metro Detroit hospital and is expected to survive, though officials have not released additional details about the extent of his injuries.
Driver Stayed, Cooperated as Van Dyke Shut Down
The driver remained at the scene and cooperated fully with officers, per the same report, and drug or alcohol impairment was not suspected. Van Dyke Avenue was closed in both directions immediately after the crash and did not reopen until Thursday night, once the initial on-scene investigation wrapped up. Warren police and fire crews responded to the scene, and the department's Traffic Crash Reconstruction Unit is continuing to look into exactly how the crash unfolded, according to the City of Warren. No citations or charges have been announced, and officials have released no further details about the cause.
Michigan law addresses the rights and responsibilities of bicyclists and drivers at crosswalks. Under Michigan Vehicle Code Section 257.660c, bicyclists are generally permitted to ride on sidewalks and through crosswalks unless a locality prohibits it, with the same rights and responsibilities as pedestrians. Separately, Section 257.612 sets yielding rules for specified traffic-signal situations, rather than generally requiring every driver turning at an intersection to yield to bicyclists and pedestrians in an adjacent crosswalk, according to the Michigan Legislature.
A Known Trouble Spot Near I-696
The stretch of Van Dyke Avenue near 11 Mile Road, not far from Thursday's crash site, was rated Michigan's second most dangerous intersection in a 2022 study of state crash data, logging 180 collisions tied to heavy traffic volume and rapid lane transitions near I-696, as reported by WDIV Local 4. The timing of the crash also lines up with when bicycle collisions are most common statewide. Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning crash statistics show the peak hourly window for bicycle crashes falls between 4 and 4:59 p.m., matching the roughly 4 p.m. timeframe of Thursday's crash.
State officials recommend that drivers keep at least 3 feet of clearance when passing bicyclists and yield right-of-way at turning points, guidance issued by the state's highway safety planning office. The crash also lands amid a broader rise in cyclist deaths across Michigan. Michigan State Police crash data from 2025 showed bicyclist fatalities statewide rose 21 percent to 35 deaths even as overall traffic fatalities dropped 3 percent to 1,065, according to WOWO. State data from 2020 to 2022 had already recorded 103 bicyclist fatalities, a 64 percent spike over the 63 deaths logged in the prior three-year period.
Lawmakers Push for Tougher Penalties
Suburban arterial roads like Van Dyke carry an outsized share of the risk. Federal crash data analyzed by the League of American Bicyclists found that 28 percent of Michigan bicyclist deaths occur on state-owned arterial roads, even though those roads make up just 8 percent of total roadway miles in the state. In June 2025, the Michigan Senate passed Senate Bills 216 and 217, bipartisan legislation aimed at increasing criminal penalties for motorists whose moving violations cause injury or death to bicyclists and other vulnerable road users, according to the Michigan State Senate.
Thursday's crash follows a string of incidents involving young riders in Warren in recent months. In one earlier case, an 8-year-old boy suffered a broken jaw in a sidewalk e-bike crash, and in September, three kids riding a single mini bike were hurt in another Warren collision. For now, the Warren Traffic Crash Reconstruction Unit's review of Thursday's crash remains open, and no additional details about the boy's injuries or the exact cause have been made public.
