Three children recovering at home after minivan hits them in Bremerton crosswalk
Mother, three children struck by vehicle in Bremerton crosswalk; driver arrested for DUI
A 27-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of DUI after the Bremerton Police Department said her minivan struck a mother and her three young children. The mother and her kids, ages three, four and six, were in a crosswalk on their way to school. Lt. Aaron Elton said the crash happened around 8:30 a.m., Thursday, at the intersection of 11th Street and Naval Avenue in Bremerton. What seems to be a mundane task or something they do often, in this instance, turned tragic. I would say, fortunately, were not looking at worse injuries, said Elton. A hospital representative confirmed all three children were released to go home with minor injuries. The representative also said the mother was not injured.
BREMERTON, Wash. -- A 27-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of DUI after the Bremerton Police Department said her minivan struck a mother and her three young children. The mother and her kids, ages three, four and six, were in a crosswalk on their way to school.
Lt. Aaron Elton said the crash happened around 8:30 a.m., Thursday, at the intersection of 11th Street and Naval Avenue in Bremerton.
“What seems to be a mundane task or something they do often, in this instance, turned tragic. I would say, fortunately, we’re not looking at worse injuries,” said Elton.
A hospital representative confirmed all three children were released to go home with minor injuries. The representative also said the mother was not injured.
Aaron Leavell, superintendent of the Bremerton School District, said the six-year-old attended Naval Avenue Early Learning Center. The school is located only a couple blocks from the intersection where the family was hit.
“ are putting our children at risk by not paying attention,” said Leavell.
“There’s a lot of traffic. It’s a highly traveled roadway. We certainly want people to make sure they pay attention if the see anybody around there,” said Marco DiCicco, transportation director for the school district.
DiCicco said drivers should be more careful, especially since kids were back to school.
“Keep each other safe. Pay attention to the roadway, pay attention to the students, pay attention to the adults. It just takes one moment for something to happen and things can go bad really quickly,” said DiCicco.
Leavell said the district was in contact with the mother to offer any assistance in their recovery. DiCicco said the district would continue promoting safety with their bus drivers.
“What I tell my drivers, I say, ‘We don’t drive students, we keep them safe. That’s our job.’ And it’s the same thing with the general public,” said DiCicco.
He also encouraged students to keep their eyes open when getting off of a bus.
“Make sure you look both ways. We’re going to do everything we can to ensure that there’s no vehicle going around there. We’re going to do everything we can to try to control that intersection as best as we can,” said DiCicco.
The crash happened just outside of a designated school zone, so there are no cross guards at the intersection.
Elton said investigators continued working to determine how fast the 27-year-old woman was driving. He explained the woman would be required to take a blood test. It could be as long as one month before officers receive test results. Elton said results would be given to the county prosecutor to determine how the case would move forward.