Managing Editor
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All Laurie Brown could comment upon was the "fortunate" circumstance she witnessed Thursday morning in downtown Boonville, that of a young male riding a bicycle who was struck by a car as he crossed N.C. 67 across from the O'Reilly Auto Parts store.
"He (the bicyclist) was lucky the guy was only doing about 15 miles per hour," she said. "Otherwise, he would have been crushed."
Boonville Police lieutenant Donald Dunn, the investigating officer, agreed with that assessment, as well as added another aspect factored in to the injuries suffered by the bicycle rider.
It's a good thing the driver of the vehicle was driving a 1996 Chrysler," Dunn said. "Had it been a pickup truck or larger vehicle, there's no telling how badly he would have been injured. As it was, he had some minor cuts on his leg and a bruised knee. He might also have suffered a concussion."
The bicyclist, Dakota Wayne Shore, 13-years-old, was taken to Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem.
According to the unofficial police report, Shore, riding a light blue Schwinn Frontier bicycle, was traveling with a friend as they began to cross N.C. 67. Another witness, Kate Wilkins, who was slowing down for a traffic light, said Shore cut in front of her car and into the path of the 1996 Chrysler driven by Clinton Bennett of Jonesville. The impact knocked Shore off his bike and onto the hood of the car where he hit the windshield, breaking it. The car Bennett was operating also suffered some unspecified body damage.
"These kids, they've got to be taught bicycle safety and the rules of the road," said Brown. "He shouldn't have been crossing the road where he did. He should have gone to the crosswalk."
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