Student struck by car in Ventura, critically injured
Personal Injury News
Article Date: 3/4/2010 | Resource: MLG
Student struck by car in Ventura, critically injured
A high school student was critically injured this morning when she was struck by a car in Ventura while running across the street to catch a bus, police said.
The collision occurred about 7:25 a.m. near the intersection of Telephone Road and Petit Avenue, said Ventura Police Spokesman Sgt. Jack Richards.
The girl, a 17-year-old student in the Ventura Unified School District, was taken to Ventura County Medical Center for treatment, Richards said.
The driver who struck the girl stopped at the scene, which was near a bus stop, said the sergeant.
Witnesses told police the girl was running northbound across Telephone road in a crosswalk, against a red light, when she was struck by a westbound car, police said in a prepared statement.
The driver, Monique Rodriguez, 24, of Ventura, was entering the intersection on a green light when the crash occurred, police said.
When police arrived, they found the girl lying seriously injured in the roadway as firefighters and paramedics administered aid.
The injured student is a Ventura resident, police said. Her name was not released.
The crash remained under investigation, but Rodriguez had not been cited or detained on suspicion of any wrongdoing this morning.
One witness, Alexis Fortner, 15, said the student was running toward a bus preparing to leave for Buena High School when she was struck.
Fortner, a freshman at Buena High School, said she was getting on the bus when she saw the collision.
She was running across the street and suddenly a car came out and hit her, Fortner said, adding that she heard brakes squeal before the impact as the driver tried to stop.
The impact threw the student a short distance, Fortner said.
I was in shock, said the freshman. I felt like I was going to throw up or pass out.
After the crash, Rodriguez pulled over and kneeled by the injured student, screaming and crying, Fortner said.
The bus later continued on to Buena High School, Fortner said.
This mornings crash wasnt the first time a pedestrian has been struck at the intersection of Telephone and Petit.
Billie Brooks, 14, was struck and killed by a motorist while crossing Telephone Road at Petit in November 2000.
That crash was almost identical to this mornings collision. Brooks was struck when he ran across Telephone against a red dont walk hand to catch a school bus to Buena High School, authorities said at the time.
For more information regarding this article please contact:
Jeffrey Marquart
(949)589-0150
jmarquart@marquartlawgroup.com