Last week, a mother and two children in South Los Angeles were sitting on a bus bench when a car suddenly struck and hospitalized them.
According to Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey, the 32-year-old woman and a one-year-old girl were put in critical condition and taken to a hospital, while a three-year-old girl was put in serious condition and taken to the hospital as well. Police have since reported that they’re all “doing OK” now.
A woman at the scene said that the driver of the vehicle, who apparently walked away uninjured, was not necessarily responsible for the accident. She allegedly did not just lose control of the vehicle, but was actually trying to avoid another vehicle that had allegedly gotten in the way.
“At this time, it’s inconclusive. We have video cameras at the intersection here that we have to look into a little bit further to see exactly what had happened,” said Peter Argueta, an LAPD Officer.
Though such freak accidents seem rare, they’re actually more commonplace than people believe. About three million people in the United States are injured each year as the result of an accident. Two of the most common causes of injurious car accidents are alcohol and texting, which respectively cause about 262,800 injuries and 420,845 injuries. According to police, neither was a factor in the accident, which means this accident was one of the some 2,316,345 other injurious incidents that happen each year in the United States.
It seems now that the lesson here is to be completely vigilant around roads — whether one is driving or not. As this incident shows, an accident can occur just about anywhere, at any time.
