Three-year-old hit by car in Steyr and taken to hospital

Course of the accident

After initial treatment at the scene of the accident, the three-year-old was taken to the children's hospital in Linz. The police initially provided no precise information about the severity of the injuries in their statement. The boy's mother was in shock after the accident and was also given care.

Police have opened investigations into the exact sequence of events. The aim is in particular to clarify under what circumstances the child was able to get onto the street and whether the traffic light had already switched to "walk" for pedestrians at the time of the accident. Visibility conditions and the speed of the vehicle are also being examined.

Police investigations

The 41-year-old US American was uninjured according to current findings. An alcohol test was carried out, according to police. Witnesses to the incident are asked to contact the Steyr police inspection to help reconstruct the sequence of events.

Children in road traffic

The incident is a reminder of the particular vulnerability of small children in road traffic. Children at this age cannot yet reliably judge the distance and speed of vehicles and often react impulsively. Professional organizations recommend that small children in dense urban traffic generally be held by the hand, even when a traffic light controls the crossing.

Outlook

In Steyr, near-misses at pedestrian crossings occur regularly in the inner-city area. The city administration refers in such cases to the importance of clearly visible crossing points and attentive accompanying persons. Following the accident on Monday afternoon, the functionality of the affected traffic light system will also be checked.

Police are continuing their investigations and will submit a final report to the public prosecutor's office in the coming days. Should any culpability on the part of those involved emerge, further legal steps are possible. Until then, the uninjured status of the driver as well as the condition of the injured boy remain not conclusively clarified.