Child, 9, dead after being hit by vehicle in Jefferson City
Matthew Sanders
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
A 9-year-old boy was killed Thursday when he was hit by a pickup truck on a North Jefferson City road.
Jefferson City Police revisited the scene the area where the crash happened on Friday afternoon, closing down the road just before 1:30.
The child, who was not named in a Jefferson City Police Department release, was hit in the 12000 block of County Road 391.
The boy was riding a bicycle on the Katy Trail and crossing the county road with his friends and family when he was hit by the northbound truck, police say. The incident was called in at about 7:20 p.m. and the boy was pronounced dead at the scene a little after 8 p.m.
A 21-year-old woman from Holts Summit was driving the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado and a 23-year-old man from Jefferson City was riding in the truck.
Amy Griffith, a nearby homeowner, tells ABC 17 News she has to drive the road almost daily and that it is terrifying.
“I see bikers all the time. Sometimes they kind of slow down as they approach the intersection and sometimes they don’t, which is the scary part,” Griffith said. “You have to slow down almost to a stop, to feel like you’re safely crossing the area.”
Griffith also discussed the need for Callaway Co. officials to do something about the danger of the road.
“For drivers on this road there is zero signage, there’s no yield sign, there’s no people crossing signs or anything indicating that there is a trail that people could be crossing or using to hike or bike,” Griffith said.
The road was blocked for several hours during the emergency response, the release says.
David Thomas, with Callaway Co.’s Road and Bridge Department, stopped along the county road today and discussed the matter briefly with an ABC 17 News reporter.
He said due to the recent events that took place on the road and a child dying as a result, the department is looking into various avenues to make the road safer. He suggested solutions like adding signage and the county even doing something about the overgrown vegetation in the area that he said could be obstructing the view of drivers coming down the road.
Police say no other information will be released.