A 14-year-old Independence Township boy was hospitalized after being hit by a vehicle on M-15, 5:25 p.m., April 20.
Investigation showed the boy skateboarded out onto Main Street west of Middle Lake Road without looking.
The vehicle, driven by a 32-year-old Waterford Township woman, was unable to stop and struck the skateboarder.
The speed limit is 40 mph in the area, and the driver wasn’t speeding, said Det. Sgt. Rich Cummins.
“She didn’t have a chance to stop,” Cummins said.
According to Michigan law, vehicles must yield right-of-way to pedestrians in a crosswalk. Pedestrians must yield the right-of-way to vehicles when crossing outside of a marked crosswalk at an intersection.
“You can’t just dart out,” Cummins said.
The skateboarder was not wearing a helmet.
M-15 was closed to traffic while the OCSO Crash Reconstruction Unit assisted in the investigation. The teen was taken to Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital in stable condition by Independence Township paramedics.
– Phil Custodio