(Lander, WY) – In less than a two week timespan, a second juvenile riding their bike was hit by a vehicle on Dabich Avenue, according to a recent Lander Police Department (LPD) call log.
The 10-year-old was reported to have suffered minor injuries to his ankle following the July 1 incident, which comes after a 15-year-old was hit by a vehicle on the same road on June 21.
“My son and his cousin were riding bikes on Dabich,” the boy’s mother, Tiphany Paipa told County 10. “My sister was sitting on our porch with her husband and heard the car’s tires screeching and she knew that something happened.”
The driver momentarily stopped to ask if the boy was okay, but then made an inappropriate comment, laughed, and drove away before her and sister or brother got to the scene, according to what Tiphany was told by her son.
In this instance, a neighbor was luckily able to get a picture of the man’s vehicle before he drove away, Tiphany went on to add, and soon LPD was able to make contact with the man following an official report.
LPD Chief Scott Peters commented that the driver was cited, but added that it appeared to be a situation where the driver may have not had enough time to stop, and went on to remind both drivers and bike riders to use caution on the roads.
“You need to slow down this time of year,” Chief Peters said. “Drive safely and drive defensively.”
Tiphany went on to comment that she hopes the incident will “bring attention to the city,” and hopes that they can “possibly add speed bumps on roads to make it a safer for kids so people cannot drive so fast.”