Two Girls on Vespa Hit By SUV
Decatur Metro | June 8, 2008DeKalb Ave. has been a mess lately.
Scott writes in…
I went by the Thinking Man last night [Saturday, June 7th] around 11 and it was like a war zone. 3 or 4 police cruisers; a good 4 fire vehicles. DeKalb Ave closed off.
According to bystanders, an SUV (a smaller one, Jeep maybe) had hit a Vespa with two girls on it. Someone said one of the girls was hurt very badly. The police were interviewing the SUV driver when I walked up. He looked mighty shaken.
All heresay, beyond the basic facts that the SUV definitely obliterated what looked like a vintage scooter.
Does anyone have further info?
What’s the condition of the Vespa riders? What led to this collision?
Latest from Decaturish
That’s actually West Howard, not DeKalb Ave. DeKalb Ave doesn’t start until the Decatur City Limit. I was at a party at 110 Columbia Dr complex about that time and did see 2 police units with blue light and sirens quickly heading west on College in the direction of the incident described. Hope everyone’s OK.
It was just up the street from me… it didn’t look good at all with the medics looking very busy. I didn’t go up and gawk so I don’t have all the details, but it looked like it was right on the corner of Atlanta Ave and West Howard. They had shut off the street and a mix of Decatur and Dekab units were on scene. I just happened to go out front to see a friend off as one medic unit hauled ass down Howard towards Grady’s trauma center. They were still stabilizing the other as I went in… Hopefully they all end up okay. SUV vs. Scooter is not good at all as a former EMT/FF myself I have seen too many.
I know the two girls personally, and have worked with one for over two years. They were struck when the SUV turned left into their path. The word is that he thought they were a bicycle and thought he could beat them to the turn. He got a ticket for failure to yield.
One rider is in stable condition, and the other is still unconscious but should be fine, and recovery will be long
We all wish them the best.
Thanks for the update none.
Glad to hear there are no life-threatening injuries, though I’m sure the recovery will be long and grueling. Our best go out to them as well.
Goodness…I encountered this myself but only saw the one vehicle. I will keep the riders in my thoughts. None, please keep us posted on your friends’ recovery.
There’s still blood on the sidewalk where the medics were treating one of the people in the scooter. I want it to rain because I’m tired of seeing it.
I live in one of the townhouses at the intersection. It’s an awful, awful intersection. There are so many accidents there, one of the school crossing guards joked to me that when she sees a collision about to happen she turns away — because she’s sick of going to court as a witness.
The main problem is that people regularly do 50-60mph on West Howard because it looks and feels like a highway, even though it’s increasingly a busy, neighborhood street. A light at the W. Howard/Adair intersection would help.
Is there an update on the condition of the two people on the scooters? I saw one of them being taken away and heard her yelling in pain.
The condition of the two is better. THe two girls were Leah Helfen and Amy Sarrell. Leah is having surgery to fix up a compound fracture and Amy was still in intensive care on Tuesday, but should get moved into a room with Leah in the next few days.
Leah had just the fracture while Amy had a compound fracture in her leg as well as two broken Vertebrae (but not her spinal column, thank goodness!).
There will be multiple fundraisers to help cover the costs that the two will be facing, although the other drivers insurance should cover most things.
If you would like to donate, there is a fund set up at Decatur first bank, just ask for the Amy and Leah fund.
Also, there is a collection at the Java Monkey where Amy works.
Thank you for all your well wishes!
Also, there is a benefit at Java Monkey on July 3, starting at 8 to raise money for Amy and Leah. All proceeds will go to medical and living expenses. Pass on the word.
R beat me to it.
Jess, JavaMonkey’s owner, wrote a full announcement and asked me to post it to my blog. Details can be found here.
CD