Two young girls were able to escape serious injury after their stroller was hit by a driver who admits he was using his cell phone at the time of the accident. This Utah Pedestrian accident happened on Tuesday, May 4, 2010 in Provo, Utah. In a report given by KSL news, the little girls were knocked out of their stroller while their mom was pushing them across the street near 300 South and 400 West. The mom realized the car wasn’t slowing down so she pushed the stroller out of the way. The mom said she was halfway through the intersection when she realized she did not have time to push them back so she jumped back herself and pushed her girls forward. The driver looked up just before hitting the stroller and slammed on his breaks. The car still hit the stroller and the collision threw the girls out of the stroller onto the pavement.
“I was just looking down at my cell phone to see what number I was returning a call with, and I looked up and there was those cute little children with the mom behind them,” the driver, Lars, said.
The girls were taken to the hospital to make sure there is no permanent damage, reports the girl’s father, Nathan Murray. The driver said the experience cured him from ever wanting to use a cell phone while driving, and he hopes that others will learn from his mistake. The driver was given a ticket for improper lookout.
I wish these two little girls well as they recover. How fortunate this accident wasn’t worse and the girls appear to be on their way to a full recovery.
The same fire fighters that responded to this accident came into my office for a fire inspection just hours after it happened. They told me the girls were knocked out for a short time from the impact of hitting the street from the stroller. They told me the driver admitted right away that he was looking down at his cell phone and didn’t even see the stroller or the mom until the very last second. We are often reminded of the dangers of cell phone use while driving. Using a cell phone while driving delays a driver’s reaction time as much as having a blood alcohol level of .08 percent. In this instance, that’s all it took.
I recommend that the family of these two girls contact an experienced Provo personal injury attorney who will help them explore all available legal avenues.