News Flash

A motor-vehicle accident involving a pickup truck rear-ending a car Oct. 30 resulted in life-threatening injuries to a 6-year-old girl who was a passenger in the car. The girl was transported to a local hospital immediately following the crash and soon after was flown to a Texas hospital for further medical care.

The crash, which occurred about 5:30 p.m., remains under investigation by the Roswell Police Department, but preliminary investigation, including statements from the people involved and witnesses, along with analysis of the evidence at the scene, has led investigators to believe the car, a 2013 Kia, containing the girl and driven by her 34-year-old mother, was stopped at a red light on West Second Street at the intersection with North Union Avenue. The Kia was traveling west on Second Street.

Investigators believe the pickup, a 2014 GMC, was also traveling west on Second Street when it approached the intersection where the Kia was stopped at the red light, waiting in the right lane next to multiple vehicles that were stopped in the left lane of westbound traffic. According to the initial findings, the pickup approached the intersection in the left lane before moving to the right lane as it neared the vehicles lined up in the left lane at the red light. The pickup then struck the rear of the stationary Kia in the right lane.

The Kia was propelled diagonally through the intersection and struck the front end of a Mazda pickup waiting at the red light in the eastbound lanes of Second Street. The driver of that pickup, a 21-year-old man, was not injured. The driver of the GMC pickup, a 38-year-old woman, that struck the Kia from behind was not injured, but the GMC’s 17-year-old female passenger, complained of possible injuries and was transported to a hospital. The 6-year-old girl’s mother, who was driving the Kia, complained of possible injuries but did not require immediate treatment at a hospital. All those involved in the crash are from Roswell.

The investigation will determine if the GMC pickup was traveling at a speed exceeding the 30-mph limit in that area and what role driver inattentiveness may have played in the crash. Whether the child in the Kia was properly restrained according to state law is also part of the investigation. Any criminal charges or traffic citations police determine should be filed or issued related to the crash will be filed or issued once the investigation is finalized.