Child on Tricycle Rides Into California Rush-Hour Traffic

A child on a tricycle was seen riding into Southern California traffic in a dash camera video.

The incident was captured on camera at around 5:30 p.m. in Santa Ana during rush hour on Aug. 27, a witness told Fox11.

The vehicles missed the toddler, but it left one woman shaken.

“I think he’s so lucky,” Sarah Tran told the Fox affiliate station. “He’s so lucky that nothing happened to him, especially on this busy day.”

Tran captured the moment on her dash camera, and she said she stopped her vehicle, ran out, and grabbed the child before bringing him to safety.

“He was determined to go into the middle of the road,” she added. “I was so afraid of cars just not seeing him because he’s so small and bolting into him.”

Santa Ana PD Corporal Anthony Bertagna said the incident was not reported to local police. “Was the kid supervised? How did the kid get out into a busy street like that, that would be evaluated,” he told Fox11. “These incidents are on a case-by-case basis.”

On Aug. 24, the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office in Mississippi released video footage of a K-9 vehicle striking a 7-year-old girl on a bike to show that the incident was an accident. According to local reports, the girl’s injuries are not life-threatening. Sabrina Nixon, the mother of the girl, accused the deputy of speeding while hitting the girl, reports said.

“It is my opinion that once the public sees the video, it will be agreed by most that this accident was not only unavoidable by my deputy, but the statements made about speeding, leaving skid marks and having to be flagged down are utterly false,” Adam said in a statement. He said the video was released “in light of multiple inaccurate statements” made about the Aug. 22 incident.

The Hancock County Sheriff’s office in Mississippi released video footage of a K-9 vehicle striking a 7-year-old girl on a bike to show that the incident was an accident. (Hancock County Sheriff's Office)

“There was nothing anybody could do about it,” Adam said. “It was completely unavoidable.”

But he stressed the accident is a reminder to keep a close eye on their kids, especially when they’re near a road.

“This same diligence should be had when our children are swimming, near flames at cookouts, or there are firearms in a home. Many children experience injuries, minor and major, from incidents that could have been avoided with proper parental supervision. We are all very blessed that this incident did not have a more disastrous outcome,” he said.

Child Safety

According to the U.N. World Health Organization: “Children are at risk for road traffic injuries for a number of reasons. Younger children are limited by their physical, cognitive and social development, making them more vulnerable in road traffic than adults. Because of their small stature, it can be difficult for children to see surrounding traffic and for drivers and others to see them. In addition if they are involved in a road traffic crash, their softer heads make them more susceptible to serious head injury than adults.”

It says that younger children can have difficulty interpreting sights and sounds, which might affect their judgment on the proximity of moving vehicles.

“Globally, around 186,300 children under 18 years die from road traffic crashes annually, and road traffic injuries are the leading killer of children aged 15-17 years worldwide. Two times as many boys as girls die in road traffic crashes. In addition, rates of road traffic death among children are 3 times higher in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries,” WHO says on its website.