Maplewood Police reported that on Friday at approximately 5:30 p.m. officers responded to Big Bend and Manchester for a pedestrian struck.
A 15-year-old boy was hit by a vehicle while trying to cross Big Bend Boulevard north of Manchester Road. The15-year-old was not in the crosswalk at the intersection when he was hit. He sustained minor injuries, and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
The driver of the vehicle is cooperating with investigators, and no charges were filed.
Perhaps when the perpetual road work being done at this intersection is finally finished (someday) MoDOT can come and inspect the intersection. I believe that having all four crosswalks open, unobstructed, and the crosswalk striping repainted would be a great start to reduce the problems of this intersection. One can hope!
Well wishes to the kid who was hurt.
Speed limit would apply to the cars that are not stopped, like the one that hit the kid.
I dunno why you’re making assumptions about me, but I’ve been run over on my bike on the sidewalk when I was a kid, and I’ve had people almost kill me in the crosswalk when I had a walk sign. I don’t really cross there on foot, but I drive there all the time, and so I know most people there drive over the speed limit. I also know the county raised the speed limit there a few years ago, and people are getting hit by cars in that intersection all the time.
People are going to screw up in traffic sometimes, everybody does. I’m not surprised if a kid crossed outside the crosswalk when the crosswalks there are so far apart, and when he would have to deal with the cars that totally ignore the crosswalk and don’t stop before right on red anyway. Anyway, if people don’t drive so fast there, they’ll have more time to react when they or someone else make a mistake and get in their way. Obviously the car that hit the kid wasn’t going 0 mph.
My point is not to say that the driver was def at fault, it was just to point out that every time someone gets hit with a car, people go on here and say it must not be the drivers fault. There seems to be an assumption that drivers can break rules, but nobody else should. When I was taught to drive, I was taught that it’s your responsibility as a driver to react safely when other people screw up, but that doesn’t seem to be the mentality in St Louis at all.
The Big Bend/Manchester intersection is a terrible one for pedestrians crossing. I believe a walkway above the road/s is warranted, and would be money well spent.
2nd pedestrian hit there in the last few months. I probably missed this one by less than five minutes on my drive home. If memory serves, the other one was a fatality.
Since it seems that pedestrians in that area will continue to risk crossing these two extremely busy roads during rush hour outside of the crossings, I’m afraid that the local cops are going to have to step in and begin writing tickets for jaywalking. The problem continues west on Manchester all the way to Hanley, (Metrolink). Hitting someone wandering around on a high traffic road can ruin your life through ptsd, lawsuits, or the legal system, not to mention the jaywalker’s life being altered or ended.
The boy was crossing Big Bend through cars backed up at a red light where Big Bend crosses Manchester, going north. Two lanes of cars were at a complete stop. The car that hit the boy must have been driving in the center turn lane and must have been going fairly fast. Apparently the boy flew up into the windshield and then flew the length of at least 2 cars before landing in the street. I didn’t see the boy hit the windshield, it happened behind me, but I did hear two thuds, and the car that hit him pulled up along side my car. I turned my head left and saw the shattered windshield, turned my head forward again and saw the boy laying in the street.
Whenever someone walking or riding a bike gets hot by a car, people comment on this website that it’s everybody’s fault but the driver. We should lower the speed limit and enforce the traffic laws for cars. Drivers take for granted that they can speed all the time by at least 5 miles an hour, which means ppl driving there are going 40 miles an hour or more. The two closest crosswalks on that stretch of road are about a quarter mile apart. So, even if you walk that whole distance and wait at the light, you know that nobody turning right is going to stop at the red light when you’re in the crosswalk. Because drivers are also not expected to even stop at red lights while they’re speeding through this intersection right next to the middle school.
Jim,
See the comment above yours – ” Two lanes of cars were at a complete stop”. What do you lower the speed limit to from 0? I feel sorry for this person and their family, but the simple fact is that if you’re in a place you’re not supposed to be, and come out from between stopped cars into the path of a moving one, that’s your responsibility. I’m thinking that you walk through this area a lot, and you seem to have a chip on your shoulder regarding sharing the roadways with cars. I walk a lot too, but I don’t do it on Big Bend during rush hour. There is nothing in any of the accounts of this incident to suggest that the driver was doing anything wrong, but eyewitnesses say that the pedestrian was breaking the law and putting him/her self and everyone around that spot at risk. Maybe a better solution would be for everyone to follow the traffic laws and be aware of their situation and surroundings.
Look first of all you’re making assumptions about me, so let me say: I never cross Big Bend on foot if I can help it. I do drive on that stretch of road all the time. I have almost been run over in the middle of the crosswalk before, when I’ve had the walk sign, and when I was in high school I got run over on my bike, on the sidewalk. But whatever, everybody’s been in car crashes, and everybody makes mistakes sometimes in traffic. Especially 15 year old kids. *That is an argument in favor of lowering speed limits.*
I didn’t make a point of blaming the driver here, I just want to point out that whenever there’s a crash involving a pedestrian or a bike, ppl on this site Always make a point of saying “it must have been their fault.”
I just think that drivers should be more in a mindset of assuming that people around them are going to eff up, and that part of your responsibility in driving a car, or a multiton truck or SUV is to give yourself and other people around you margin for inevitable errors.
and you can’t really do that at 40 MPH approaching a busy intersection next to a school. That intersection is a mess, pedestrians get hit there all the time, and the county ought to take steps to reduce speeds there cause it’s gonna keep happening.
I saw the police cars and ambulance there and thought the place had been robbed or someone had a medical event from eating there. Police cars blocking the driveways when I saw it, at least 4 or 5 cars. Was wondering what was going on. Hope the kiddo is going to be OK.