A 12-year-old bicyclist was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries Tuesday morning after a pickup truck struck him at a Zeeland crosswalk and then sped off without stopping, according to police. The collision happened around 7:05 a.m. at the intersection of North State Street and West Roosevelt Avenue, right in the middle of the morning school rush.
According to the Zeeland Police Department, the boy had stopped and was waiting at the crosswalk before starting to cross State Street heading west. A silver or white pickup truck then turned north onto State Street from Roosevelt Avenue directly in front of him, and the bicyclist crashed into the passenger side of the truck. Rather than stopping, the truck continued north and disappeared from the scene.
The boy was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, the department said. The case remains under investigation, and police are asking anyone with information to call the Zeeland Police Department at (616)-772-9125.
A School-Zone Crash With Legal Stakes
A Crash With Legal Stakes The crash happened at 7:05 a.m. at the intersection of North State Street and West Roosevelt Avenue.
Under Michigan law, drivers who leave the scene of a crash that injures someone face misdemeanor charges, according to the Michigan Legislature, which can carry up to a year behind bars, a fine as high as $1,000, and a mandatory license suspension. State law also requires drivers to yield to bicyclists lawfully crossing within a crosswalk, treating a cyclist in that position with the same right-of-way protections given to pedestrians. Separately, Michigan's safe-passing statute requires drivers overtaking a bicyclist traveling the same direction to leave at least three feet of clearance, a rule added to the state vehicle code in 2018.
Part of a Troubling Statewide Pattern
Part of a Troubling Statewide Pattern Final 2025 crash data released in August showed bicyclist fatalities statewide jumped 21 percent, from 29 deaths in 2024 to 35 in 2025, even as overall roadway deaths fell 3 percent, per the League of Michigan Bicyclists. Statewide figures compiled by the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning counted 1,747 bicycle-involved crashes in 2025, with 35 deaths.
This is not the only recent crash to rattle the area. Hoodline previously reported that a 66-year-old Zeeland woman died after the pickup truck she was driving slammed into an Ottawa County deputy's cruiser earlier this month. And last October, Zeeland police investigated a separate fatal crash on East Main Avenue, where an 81-year-old pedestrian was struck and killed by a pickup truck while crossing the road in the early morning, according to WZZM 13. In nearby Zeeland Township last month, Ottawa County Sheriff's deputies investigated another hit-and-run on Byron Road in which four occupants of a pickup truck fled on foot after critically injuring another driver, per the Michigan Legal Center.
For now, the driver who struck the 12-year-old remains unidentified, and the boy's condition beyond his initial non-life-threatening injuries has not been further detailed. The Zeeland Police Department continues to seek the public's help in tracking down the pickup truck involved.
