Student hit by car while riding bike to school

ROCHESTER HILLS — A Van Hoosen Middle School student was hit by a car while riding a bike to school the morning of May 2.

Deputies from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office’s Rochester Hills substation were dispatched to the area of Adams and Tienken roads on a report of a bicyclist being struck by a vehicle at 7:04 a.m.

According to reports, as the student crossed the intersection of the Adams High School athletic lot, within the crosswalk, a parent who had just dropped his child off at Adams began to exit the lot onto Adams Road in his Jeep Wagoneer failed to yield to the bicycle and struck the bicyclist.

“The kid was going north on Adams, kind of where the tennis courts are, and he was crossing the area where the cars come out, and one of the parents was coming out and hit him right as he was crossing the driveway area,” said Lt. Jason Dalbec of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

The student, he noted, was knocked off his bicycle, and he sustained scrapes and bruises.

“It wasn’t anything major. There was hardly any damage to the bike and no real damage to the car,” Dalbec said.

In an email sent that morning to district parents, officials from the Rochester Community Schools district said the accident occurred before school on Adams Road in front of the Adams High School entrance. They said emergency medical services and local law enforcement professionals arrived on the scene to tend to the student, the family was notified and the student was “under the care of medical professionals” that morning.

Some students may have witnessed the accident and were encouraged by the district to talk to school support staff.

“Great consideration is being taken to care for those who may have questions,” RCS officials said in the email. “We appreciate the community’s concern and support. Nothing is more important than the safety and well being of our students, staff and families.”

As the weather warms, officials encourage drivers and bicyclists to avoid distractions and stay alert while commuting.

Drivers should watch for people walking and biking while they drive, especially at intersections. Drivers should always wait until it is safe to pass a person on a bicycle and leave at least 3 feet — it’s state law.

It is state law for bicyclists to ride with traffic on the right side of the road. Officials say people driving cars are not looking for oncoming traffic of any kind in their travel lane, so a person riding against traffic is practically invisible to people driving cars — especially when they are pulling out of driveways or turning at intersections.