Boy, 5, dies in crash near Gold Bar
Published 11:24 pm Monday, May 11, 2009
GOLD BAR — Sheriff’s detectives were trying to determine what caused a crash Monday that killed a 5-year-old Gold Bar boy and sent his sister and his father to the hospital.
Rescue crews were called to the 44000 block of Fir Road at 2 p.m., officials said.
“Calls involving injured or dead children are heartbreaking, the worst,” Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said. “And this one is just so tragic.”
Initial reports indicated the father, 27, was driving a Dodge Durango through the residential neighborhood when the SUV veered off the road and struck a cedar tree, Hover said.
Paramedics arrived and determined the boy in the back seat had died, she said.
The other child, the boy’s sister, 3, was critically injured, Snohomish County Fire District 26 Chief Eric Andrews said. She was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle by helicopter. The father suffered considerable injuries to his face and back. He was taken by ambulance to Harborview.
Father and daughter were listed in serious but stable condition Monday evening, Hover said.
“You usually wouldn’t expect to have a fatal accident in that neighborhood,” Andrews said. There are speed bumps through the area.
It’s not yet known how fast the SUV was going when it hit the tree. Deputies do not believe drugs or alcohol were factors, Hover said.
The girl was in a child seat, the boy in a booster seat. Both children were in the back seat. There were no other passengers.
State law requires all children under the age of 8, unless they’re 4-foot-9 or taller, to be properly restrained in a child seat or booster seat.
Even if a child is older than 8 or taller than the minimum, the child still may need to be in a booster seat, Snohomish County SafeKIDS spokeswoman Kristen Thorstenson said. It all depends on how well the vehicle’s seat belt fits the child.
Regardless of size, all children under 13 are required to be in the back seat, if practical.
Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com
