High School Student, Mother with 2 Children Struck Tuesday

Three pedestrian collisions occurred within two hours of each other Tuesday morning in Montgomery County, according to county police.

A Watkins Mill High School student was hit while walking to school at 7:19 a.m., a pedestrian crossing Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda was struck at 7:47 a.m., and a mother and her two children were struck while crossing a parking lot entrance in Gaithersburg at 8:55 a.m.

All of the pedestrians involved were taken to emergency rooms with non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.

Since Jan. 22, four pedestrians and a bicyclist have been fatally struck by cars in the Silver Spring and Aspen Hill areas of the county. Join the discussion on Patch about how to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety in the county.

Related Links:

Watkins Mill Student Struck by Vehicle Walking to School Tuesday

Tips from Montgomery County police on driver and pedestrian safety:

Drivers

• Look for pedestrians before you enter or exit a driveway. This is when you cross the sidewalk where pedestrians walk. Since they are on the sidewalk, they might be less alert than when crossing streets.
• Look all around your vehicle, all the time.  Keep your eyes moving.
• With the spring coming, be on the look out for increased pedestrian traffic, increased bicycle traffic, and an increase in children playing at parks, in school yards, and in residential areas.  Look for pedestrians stepping out from between parked cars. Where there are a lot of parked cars, there will likely be pedestrians

Pedestrians

• Stay alert while crossing roadways.  Refrain from phone use, texting, and wearing ear buds.
• Be seen.  Wear clothing with bright visible colors or even reflective cloth.  If your clothing is dark, it is more difficult to be seen in any adverse light conditions.
• Be proactive by watching traffic when crossing. Always cross at a controlled intersection. At the signal, cross only when the “walk” signal is displayed.
• Before crossing, first look left, then right, then left again to check for any traffic.
• Parents are the most important models of proper pedestrian behavior for children.