ANNESLIE, Md. — It was a moment that left neighbors in this Baltimore County community horrified, but not surprised.
"There are accidents along this road, frequently. Fortunately, in 17 years I haven't heard of children getting hit," said Todd Carpenter, referencing how long he's been a resident of the Anneslie neighborhood.
Carpenter is one of several neighbors who rushed out to help when a 10 year-old boy was hit by a car Wednesday afternoon.
Late Thursday, we spoke to the boy's mom on the phone. She says he's pretty banged up, but he's ok.
"I was working and I heard a car put its brakes on, and I heard a thump," Carpenter recalled. He brought blankets outside for the boy.
"It was a really scary moment. It was just like, panicking, my daughter started crying. It was horrible," said Season Shrestha, who lives across the street from the accident.
Oliver Higgs, the boy's father, wants to thank everyone for the support following the accident.
“First, and most importantly, we would like to thank everyone who helped our son in the moments after the accident. The generosity of bystanders and the professional care and concern from first responders made an impossibly difficult moment a little easier to bear. We will always be endlessly grateful for that and for the ongoing love and support from friends and strangers across the community. William was discharged from the hospital and is home resting and healing and we are optimistic he will make a full recovery from his injuries," Higgs said.
"As parents of kids who walk home from school, Regester is a road that has always made us nervous. Speeding is common and sight lines can be tricky. We fully support the addition of speed bumps and any other steps that would make Regester safer for pedestrians—especially young kids,” Higgs added.
It happened by the intersection of Regester Avenue and Kenleigh Road.
Stoneleigh Elementary is right nearby. A lot of kids use this street to walk home from school.
"Speed limit is 25 here but people drive more like 45,50," said Shrestha.
The victim's mom tells us he doesn't remember the accident. But when we walked up and asked where it happened, his immediate response was, "Of course it happened on Regester."
People who live around here say there's been too many crashes in this area. Hours before yesterday's accident, Shrestha's parked car was hit.
"It's frightening for me. I've been telling my family we need to move out of this place because I don't want to get hit. So many times things happen. One time, a couple of cars collided and went into my driveway and hit that tree there," Shrestha explained.
Neighbors say a few years ago, there was a crossing guard, a crosswalk, and a speeding camera at this intersection. All of those things were removed, and moved up a couple blocks. Nobody seems to know why.
"I don't know why they removed that. That is a much better place people can notice there," Shrestha said.
"I think it probably would've helped. Certainly it could've been a lot worse had the driver been going a lot faster, and there are people certainly who drive way too fast on this road. People did slow down when the camera was here," Carpenter said.
It's unclear if speed was an issue in this incident. Witnesses say the driver was insistent they weren't going too fast. The Baltimore County crash team is looking into it. The police department says there has been an increased police presence in that area in response to community concerns. We did see a driver get pulled over in the first half-hour we were there.
We asked the Baltimore County Department of Public Works about efforts to make this intersection safer. Spokesperson Lowell Melser says the department can't comment until the investigation into this accident is over.
His full statement is below:
The safety and well-being of our residents is of the utmost importance to the Baltimore County Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPWT). DPWT is committed to ensuring the safety of our roadways and pedestrian crossings, including those on routes used by children to get to school.
We understand that the child involved in this incident was taken to the hospital, and we are hopeful the child has a swift and full recovery. However, we cannot comment further on this matter at this time as the investigation into this incident is ongoing. We will follow up once the investigation is complete.
Oliver Higgs the father
