Police chief cites near miss for child on bike
Peabody Police Chief Bruce Burke has issued a plea to parents of young children who are riding bikes on the streets of Peabody now that school is out for the summer.
"I can't say this forcefully enough," said Burke. "Parents have GOT to sit their kids down and have a one-on-one conversation with them about bicycle safety."
Burke cited an incident at Third and Walnut streets this past weekend that was such a close call, adults who witnessed it were left shaken by the incident.
"Parents need to remind their children — perhaps repeatedly — that when they are on the streets, they need to stop at stop signs and yield at yield signs," he said. "The same rules apply to a bicycle rider as to the driver of a car when the bicycle rider is riding in the street.
"The child I am talking about was lucky and is alive today because the driver of the truck, who had the right of way in this incident, was alert and was able to stop.
"The incident could have ended tragically and it wouldn't have mattered that the truck driver was in the right. The child could have been killed, nonetheless."
Burke said his officers have been instructed to issue warnings to children riding bikes who ignore traffic rules or do not pay attention while riding on city streets. If it becomes necessary to issue a second warning, the officers will be in touch with the parents of the children in question.
