‘Seeing a little pink backpack and my heart just sank’: 6-year-old girl hit by car near Rockrimmon Boulevard
Celeste Springer
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) says that a young girl was hit by a car on Friday morning.
According to police, a call came in at 8:05 a.m. near Red Hill Circle and Rockrimmon Boulevard. Police say they were on scene by 8:15 a.m.
Initial reports to dispatch said the girl was 6 years old. Police say that the car involved stayed on scene, and the child was transported to the hospital. The child’s condition is unknown at this time; however, according to CSPD’s call screen, the child was conscious at the time of transport. Law enforcement on scene says that she was taken to a local hospital, but later had to be taken to another hospital for further treatment.
One neighbor said he came home just 5 minutes after the accident happened.
“I just got done dropping my son off at school and pulled up and noticed a vehicle had pulled in front of my house pretty fast, doors open. I came out to, like, a frantic scene. The little girl was lying in the road. Her mom was here, and I think she was walking with two other children at the time, so, it was a pretty chaotic scene,” explained Chris Taylor, “We were praying and people, you know, we’re trying not to get in the way because, like I said, the mother was there, and she was very upset. Her little brother was very upset. So we were just all trying to console people around and let the paramedics do their job.”
Taylor says that as a parent, the driving in the area concerns him.
“I see kids walking up and down the street a lot. I’ve been living in this neighborhood for a couple years now, and, right here in this section is pretty scary. There’s a blind corner, and people speed a lot, and there’s a lot of foot traffic up here. Not only students, but, families walking their dogs or just people exercising or biking. And so a lot of speeding and just illegal activity as far as road laws go,” shared neighbor Chris Taylor.
He said there should be more crosswalks along Rockrimmon Boulevard to Vindicator Dr. Another child was hit at that intersection in 2024 when walking to school.
KRDO13 raised neighbors’ safety concerns with the city.
First and foremost, we want to express our heartfelt sympathy to the family affected by this tragic incident. Our thoughts are with them during this difficult time. We understand that crosswalk placement is deeply connected to how safe people feel moving around our city.
The City follows established guidance on when and where to add crosswalks, with the goal of protecting both pedestrians and drivers. Crosswalks are most effective when placed at intersections with a stop sign, signal, or another form of traffic control. In some cases, we also install them to connect trail networks or provide direct access to important community spaces such as parks, schools, or other public amenities. If we install a crosswalk we add additional treatments such as signage, pedestrian islands or flashing lights to alerts drivers. Our criteria also takes into account traffic speeds, traffic volumes and the number of lanes a pedestrian must cross.
In 2022, Traffic Engineering completed a citywide intersection study. Based on that data, this intersection was not identified as a safety concern. We know safety is a shared responsibility, and we encourage everyone, whether walking or driving, to be alert, patient, and mindful of one another.
-Todd Frisbie, City Traffic Engineer
Another neighbor tells KRDO13 they got home just after the accident.
“It was really shocking to come in, you know, just driving around the corner and suddenly see my tiny little cul-de-sac roped off with all the tape and immediately looking across and seeing a little pink backpack and a water bottle, and my heart just sank immediately. You know, lots of kids travel across our cul-de-sac for school every morning, every afternoon,” said neighbor Ruble Henderson.
He said his heart breaks for the family of the little girl.
“My heart immediately went out to the family, of course, the little kid, but their family, I mean, I immediately have a sense of, oh, my goodness, this is a heavy day for her family. For her parents. So my mind initially went to obviously her and then, her parents, and then obviously, you know, my heart broke for the driver, too. I mean, I couldn’t imagine that, you know, that person feels good about this situation, which there was no indication that they did, you know, they looked pretty, pretty distraught,” said Henderson.
He also tells KRDO13 that he shares some similar safety concerns in the area.
“It’s a really busy street. It’s one of the main veins in this whole west side. So yeah, it’s certainly scary. People are regularly driving 60 plus miles an hour. You know, it’s a 35-mile-per-hour speed zone,” explained Henderson.
Overall, he said it appears to be a tragic accident.
“You blink once at the wrong moment, and these things can happen. So it’s just heartbreaking, really,” said Henderson.
The man stayed on scene and was issued a citation. KRDO13 asked police what charges the man was facing, but CSPD said they could not share the charges as of Friday afternoon.