Boy on way to school hit by car trying to bypass traffic, Miami Gardens PD says

A boy was flown to the hospital after he was hit by a car that drove onto a swale to bypass traffic in Miami Gardens Tuesday morning, authorities said.

Miami Gardens Police said officers responded to the crash in the 1200 block of Northwest 188th Street just before 8 a.m.

The driver of a black Ford Fusion was traveling southbound on Northwest 12th Avenue at a high rate of speed when they tried to get around “slow-moving traffic by driving onto the swale,” police said.

The car struck a tree and then hit an 11-year-old boy, officials said.

Home surveillance video shows two boys crossing the street and going off camera moments before a loud impact can be heard.

One neighbor rushed over after hearing the impact.

“I thought it was a bomb or a light went out and then I run outside and call my wife to call the cops,” the neighbor said.

The victim, identified as a student at nearby Parkway Elementary School, suffered a head injury and was flown to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center in serious but stable condition.

The boy’s grandmother told NBC6 he was walking to school and just two blocks away when he was struck.

“He was on his way to school, they were crossing the street, and I heard that the person hit them on the sidewalk. I don’t know how that happened,” the grandmother said. “It’s crazy, especially in a school zone with all the kids walking to school. That’s so irresponsible.”

The grandmother said the boy had an MRI done to make sure there was no internal bleeding or brain injuries, and said he has no broken bones.

The driver was taken into custody and will be booked into jail on charges of reckless driving, police said.

The investigation is ongoing.