A 16-year-old Columbia High School student was slightly injured after the bicycle she was riding to school Thursday morning hit a car at the intersection of Parker Avenue and Kensington Terrace.
The girl was riding westbound on Parker and failed to stop at the intersection of Kensington, said Sgt. Christopher Black of the Maplewood Police Department.
“She never stopped…[and] went right across Parker and hit the front wheel of the car,” a silver Saturn, Black said.
The driver stopped and remained on the scene until the girl was taken by ambulance to University Hospital in Newark, said Black. She received minor injuries to the lower part of her leg.
Black said he did not know if the student was wearing a helmet.
CHS Principal Elizabeth Aaron made a short announcement on the loudspeaker in the morning, letting students know there had been an accident and the girl was being cared for.
This afternoon, Aaron released a letter to the CHS community:
Good afternoon, Columbia community,
As you may have heard from your student this morning, one of our students was injured in an accident while riding her bike to school. Our school administrators, teachers, nurses, security staff, and Maplewood Police and Fire managed the scene smoothly and the student received immediate attention.
We do take this very important opportunity to remind you that Parker and Valley Streets, Kensington Terrace, Academy Street, and North Terrace are very busy both at the 7:20 and 8:15 drop offs. Please use all care while driving, and please impress upon your students the importance of being aware of their surroundings.
The need for adult and teen drivers, walkers, skateboarders, and bikers to remember the role that helmets, paying attention to cars and crosswalks, using the good sense to not look at a phone or iPod screen while crossing streets, and being aware of the state law for drivers to stop for pedestrians in cross walks are steps we should all be taking to make sure all of our students are safe coming to and from school.
Please also remember that we ask that you NOT enter into our parking lots to drop off students. Please drop them safely along the curb.
The intersection of North/Academy and Parker have a police presence in the mornings. The intersection of Valley and Parker has a crossing guard.
Thank you for remembering these things and working with us to keep us all safe.
Best regards,
Elizabeth Aaron
