Bicyclist, 12, on a cell phone rides into traffic and is run over in Laconia; principal, school nurse rush to aid
By BEA LEWIS
Union Leader Correspondent
May 09. 2018 8:29PM
LACONIA — A 12-year-old bicyclist using her cellphone lost her balance and was run over by a landscaping trailer being towed by a dump truck, police said.
Witnesses told police that the girl was riding on the sidewalk on North Main Street, heading north near the Oak Street intersection when she swerved into traffic and struck the back of a truck towing a dual-axle trailer loaded with lawn care equipment.
The one-ton, six-wheel truck also was headed north toward Meredith, but was stopped in traffic. Police said the driver, Collin Kuchinsky, 21, of Sanbornton, did not realize the bicyclist had struck the rear of his truck.
When Kuchinsky drove forward, the four-wheel trailer ran over the girl, police said. He immediately stopped and pulled over.
The girl was riding to nearby Laconia Middle School at 150 McGrath St. when the accident happened about 7:32 a.m.
Dr. Alison Bryant, principal of the school, and school nurse Keri Reynolds rushed to the scene and were able to comfort the girl, Fire Lt. Chad Vaillancourt sid.
The injured girl was rushed to Lakes Region General Hospital and then taken by helicopter to Dartmouth-Hitch**** Medical Center for treatment of injuries that police said are not life-threatening.
The girl, whose name has not been released, was not wearing a helmet, Vaillancourt said.
He reminded parents to make sure their kids wear helmets while bicycling; state law requires anyone under the age of 16 to wear a helmet.
Anyone with information about the accident is asked to call Laconia police at 524-5252.
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Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug.
We are very vigilant that SS always wear his helmet. Unfortunately at his mom's there are no rules for anything (she has to be cooler than us after all) and guess who got a concussion recently? Yeah, his skateboard flung out from under him and he went flying. Slammed his head right on the ground.
I think you're right Lindley about the parents too. They need to BE the example.
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Was it a bad day?
Or was it a bad five minutes that you milked all day?
We have had several kids in our city get hit by cars at school drop off this year. Cars were not at fault, all if them were when parents dropped off outside of the drop off zone, which wouldn't be a problem except they didn't have their children walk the rest of the way safely at the side of the road and to the crosswalk. Instead they darted between cars or across the street without looking. No one was seriously injured thank God.
Dd10 is very against texting and driving, she will rat out anyone who does it, I hope that feeling lasts.
