Child knocked off bike on way to school

A vehicle struck the front tire of a child’s bicycle Thursday morning as she attempted to peddle through a cross walk on her way to school at Leading Edge Academy, police said.

Ricky Alvarado, spokesman for the Maricopa Police Department, said the 12-year-old girl was thrown to the ground in the collision, but was not injured.

Maricopa Fire/Medical cleared the girl of injuries, and a call was made to her parents, Alvarado said.

Prior to the incident, Alvarado said MPD was working a minor vehicle accident at the intersection, causing traffic to back up in the area of Porter Road near Sequoia Pathway Academy.

As the girl approached a crosswalk near Sequoia Pathway Academy, Alvarado said a “driver waved her through, but wasn’t looking at traffic coming in the opposite direction.”

“The little girl got her bike to go across when there was another car coming in the opposite direction that couldn’t see because traffic was backed up there,” Alvarado said.

No citations were issued in the accident, in part because Alvarado said the girl rode her bicycle through the crosswalk, when bicyclists are required to walk their bikes through a crossing.

“Since technically she shouldn’t have been riding her bike across, she should have been pushing it across the street, there was no prosecution done on anybody or any violations since nobody was injured,” Alvarado said.

The driver involved in the collision was not impaired, Alvarado said.