PALMDALE – An 8-year-old girl had to be airlifted to the hospital Monday afternoon, after she was struck by a minivan as she dashed away from an ice cream truck, authorities said.
The collision happened around 3:26 p.m. Monday in the 3200 Block of East Avenue R-12 in Palmdale, according to Lt. Ken Wright of the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station.
The girl purchased a treat from the ice cream truck and then darted around the truck and into the street, where she was hit by an oncoming vehicle, Wright stated.
The 42-year-old driver stopped to render assistance and asked others to call for help. The child was treated on scene by paramedics, and then an L.A. County Fire Department helicopter landed at Dry Town Water Park and airlifted the critically-injured girl to Children’s’ Hospital Los Angeles.
The latest information from the hospital was that the child had suffered multiple fractures and was in stable condition.
It was later determined that the driver of the vehicle was unlicensed, according to Wright. She was cited for that charge only and then released from the scene. There was no indication that the driver had been traveling at an excessive speed or that she was negligent in any other way, Wright stated.
Parents should go over traffic safety rules with their children, and drivers should exercise increased caution now that school is closed and more children will be out and about, advises Palmdale Station personnel.
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Tee says
Unlicensed driver should not have been driving, so the accident should not have even happened.
There is a reason why a driver is not licensed. Regardless if the child failed to look both ways before crossing a road, it still boils down to the car should have never been on the road in the first place.
We get our driver licenses so that we have the privileges to use the roads and drive. When you don’t have one…that means you should NOT have been driving or even on the roads with your vehicle.
Driver was ethical enough to stop, but in all honestly this accident should have not even happened in the first place because she should have not been on the road. Driver should have been arrested.
mick says
AV Times, Can we get an update on the condition of the little girl please?
Palmdale_Steve says
So no drivers license, assume no vehicle registration and no proof of insurance, yet the woman who hit this child was not arrested.
I don’t care what the legal status, color of skin, sex or any other characteristic of the driver, she should have been taken to the station for, at the very least determining who she is and her legal status.
Carrie says
I totally agree Steve. This is kind of off topic but I was in an accident with a driver that was not licensed, the vehicle was not in his name, no insurance on his vehicle or health insurance for himself, and was am illegal immigrant, and he tried to sue me for over 25k. Yes the accident was my fault, but I was so upset that they allowed him to do this, I was 19 years old. And thankfully my vehicle was under my name and insured under my name because they threatened to go after my parents home! This system is a mess.
LG says
In your case Carrie, just because of his legal status doesn’t mean you should have got a free pass on the accident. Immigration is separate from the Police that’s why they don’t do anything dealing with deportation…unless you’re in Arizona. Another point, unlicensed doesn’t mean illegal Hispanic. Plenty of ghetto irresponsible people of all colors around here.
Yo Mama says
I think Uncle Tom is as close as it gets to accurate rage. Nice missive there, Unc.
There’s something I think everyone’s missing though. It doesn’t have to be your fault to get yourself in a mess with the law if you drive a vehicle when you shouldn’t be. (Drunk, unlicenced, etc.) This accident is a great example of that. Minding all of the actual driving laws may not get you pulled over. But, one quick as hell mishap on SOMEONE ELSES PART, even if it’s a child, will dog you forever. Do it often enough, and that kind of arrogance will catch ya eventually…
Check this: Some of you may remember the 21 year old kid traveling west-bound on Ave. L-8 from 10th west at a high rate of speed. At 12th W., the pavement turns to dirt, and in about 30-40 yards, his car flew through a chainlink fence, flew over a drainage ditch, flew over the northbound traffic lanes and onto the center-divider on the 14 freeway. After sliding upsidedown continuing onto the southbound lanes, his car was struck by a southbound traveler. This happened around 3am July 5th, 2008, or 2009. (I don’t remember the year exactly…) The “flying burrito brother” was killed on impact, but the cat minding his own business just drivin home after an American celebration was arrested for a DUI as a result of a car flying seemingly out of nowhere! That really happened.
Don’t drive if you shouldn’t be…
Sandra says
Someone should have been with the child while she was crossing road. Driver should not only be cited. They were breaking t he law by being behind the wheel. You can not drive without being licensed and insured. I see a lawsuit coming. I pray the child is ok.
anyone says
So who are you mad at, Sandra? The (parent) for not crossing them or the unlicensed driver? EVERYONE isn’t to blame, sometimes accidents happen.
LRock says
How about both! First the unlicensed driver should not be driving, this means she has no car insurance, and by law should NOT be driving. Second the child’s patents should have been with her, taught her the right and safe way to cross. Had this woman not been driving and this child’s parent actually with their child chances are this accident would not if happened. Yes accidents happen but 90% of them can be prevented if people followed the law! And took proper precautions to ensure their lives Kane’s safety!
A sad story and hard lesson for all involved!!
LRock says
How about both! First the unlicensed driver should not be driving, this means she has no car insurance, and by law should NOT be driving. Second the child’s parents should have been with her, or taught her the right and safe way to cross a street. Had this woman not been driving and this child’s parent actually with her as she crossed the street, chances are this accident would not of happened. Yes accidents happen but 90% of them can be prevented if people followed the law! And took proper precautions to ensure their loved One’s safety!
A sad story and hard lesson for all involved!!
sikntired says
Get rid of the damn ice cream trucks, so tired of their bad choice of music, Christmas music in summer and they pose a hazard because of the randomity of kids when they hear that crap.
Wonder what else they are selling from those nasty trucks.
Yo Mama says
Riiiiiiggghhhht!!!
derrick says
Maybe they should have all ice cream trucks install flashing red lights like the ones on school buses
Aundrea says
Great Idea! this keeps happening, how many children with have to get hurt or die before they do more to stop this kind of accident?
Yo Mama says
That’ll never happen….
Diane Martinez says
Well Thank God The little girl is fine, parents your children should be watched no matter what and always reminded about taking precaution when crossing the street or being in an area of traffic… Count your blessings
Nancy P says
unlicensed equals illegal. Glad she stopped. It would have been easy for her to keep driving.
AVGirl says
Sorry but you are wrong. There are many unlicensed drivers who were born here.
eo2 says
Driving without a license is illegal. Residency status has nothing to do with it.
Palmdale_Steve says
How about registration and proof of insurance, nothing in the article about those? Not having those while driving around is no big deal to you?
Uncle Tom says
Wow, here I thought I had some pretty hard views on illegals, but you people blow me away.
But then again, nowhere does this article state the driver was illegal, undocumented, or whatever PC name they want to be called now. It says the driver was unlicensed. Like others here have mentioned it could mean any number of things. A direct quote, “There was no indication that the driver had been traveling at an excessive speed or that she was negligent in any other way…” tells me that she was following the rules to the best of their knowledge.
The part that gets me, which is pretty sad in a way, is that I feel the need to give some praise to this driver who, probably knowing they were unlicensed, chose to stop and render aid like any reasonable person would. I hear far too often of A-holes not stopping. I appreciate that they did the right thing, didn’t run, and helped the best that they could, even if that meant they would get in trouble for not being licensed.
I won’t lay blame on anybody, because I was not there, I don’t know the circumstances. I DO know how many parents are now days who let their kids rampage around the neighborhood, no supervision, darting into the street, and as a parent I find it reprehensible. Appalling. Too many young lives are destroyed because they don’t pay attention. How much harder is it to spot some kid who darts out behind ANY car into the street, and then have time to stop before hitting them, versus having a person LOOK BOTH WAYS for this HUGE METAL OBJECT rolling down the road, and not run the F out in front of it???
Let this be a lesson to everybody, physics doesn’t care if you have a licence or not, if its a human vs a vehicle, the human loses every time. Watch yourself, watch your kids, teach them right. I hope this little girl makes it, cause she has a BIG lesson to teach all the others around her, but beyond that its a sad world when we lose a child to something that is so easy to prevent.
mick says
Thank you, at least some one here actually read the article besides me.
Mi says
I could not agree with you more. Even though this women was unlicensed she had the respect and compassion for the child to stop and help instead of flee the scene.
And you are spot on about children being able to rampage around the neighborhoods now a days. In the area that I live in there is a particular house that has many young children living in it and the parents just send them to play in the front yard and are not out there watching them at all. The ride down the drive ways on their bikes or scooters right into the street not looking for cars at all. Thankfully we live on a cul-de-sac and dont get much car traffic but the cars that still do come down the street would not be able to see them.
I hope this child recovers but I hope that the parents learn their lesson on making sure that they are out watching their child at all times.
Angie says
I hope this child has a full and fast recovery. As for some of your comments. First,of all this child is 8 years old who keeps their 8 years old at arms link the parent could have been watching who are you to say they weren’t. Second this car could have been driving 5 miles per hour and the child might have darted out at the last second. I don’t defend the unlicensed driver at all. If they weren’t driving illegal this wouldn’t have happened.
mick says
What??? How does being licensed or not have anything to do with a child darting out into traffic??? This could have happened to anyone!
Yo Mama says
Really? Another frickin genious. Jesus christ almighty….
Frank Rizzo says
unlicensed driver cited and released? Should be charged with manslaughter.
AVGirl says
Since the child was not killed, I don’t see how manslaughter would be appropriate?
Frank Rizzo says
cite and release makes as much sense.
Yo Mama says
Brilliant….
mick says
I din’t see any where in the article that the driver was illegal. Many US citizens drive unlicensed for one reason or another…lost their license, didn’t bother to renew when it expired, the list goes on. It also states in the article that the minivan wasn’t driving at a high rate of speed or doing anything else wrong and she did stop to render aid, which is getting pretty rare these days. Accidents happen. The little girl was excited, parents weren’t watching close enough and maybe this wasn’t the best place for the ice cream truck to stop being a busy rode and all. I am sorry for the little girl and send my prayers for her recovery but I’m sure the driver was also traumatized and for haters to just assume she is illegal or a bad person is shameful. Oh and by the way, I was hit on a bike when I was a kid by a driver going under 10 mph and had several broken bones. A vehicle doesn’t have to be speeding to severely injure a person.
Shawnna Eze says
Unfortunately people fly down this street all the time! I know I watch my children like a hawk even if they are getting an ice cream from the ice cream man but that does not mean that a car no matter how fast or slow would not hit my child if she did something like darting across the street. It’s an unfortunate situation that happens all too often! The driver needs jail time for breaking the law. End of story!
Mimers says
The Fault lies with both the Driver and Parent of the child… YES the drive should have slowed to a snails crawl to make sure kids are not going to Dart out in front of her, BUT as the Parent why was she not with in arms length of her child or at least keep an eye on on coming traffic , reminding her daughter be careful watch out.. YOU CANNOT expect the drivers to obey the most obvious laws , IF YOU SEE a CHILD you slow down.. some people dont care..and WHO PAYS the child, she was so excited about the ice cream she was not thinking of cars, its the repsonsibilty of the adults to be aware….. I really hope she comes out of this 100% ok,and I do hope something does come against the driver, I hate the unlicensed, Illegal, No insurance driver.. The fact that they think they are entitled to dirve..
Fed Up says
It’s simple math. Lets try it; Minivan + unlicenced driver = illegal alien + no insurance = cops putting every legal driver and pedistrian at risk allowing this person to be cited and released. Funny system we have where we pick and chose which laws will be inforced.
Bob says
The department may have to later pay for this down the road if this driver ends up killing someone later on, and the family of that victim sues.
I think we need to crack down on illegal drivers.
The kid who killed four passengers down south? Illegal driver.
Car related deaths kill more people than gun related deaths.
Everyone wants a background check for guns, maybe there needs to be one for a car, no?
Elvis says
Tell me Fed Up where is this article does it state this person was an illegal alien? Go spread your bigotry somewhere else.
Alice says
Unlicenced? I suppose your native American right Mark.
so true says
OH so its the parents fault? The ice cream trucks all say slow caution children….the driver’s know to slow and watch for little kids getting their ice cream treats. But, an unlicensed driver perhaps didn’t get that formal training…yes, kids need to watch for traffic, but we need to get these unlicensed drivers off the road too!!!! Pray the little girl makes a full recovery and can have ice cream in the hospital.