June 17, 1989

Boy dies after truck hits bike

       An 11-year-old White River Township boy died Monday after a 25,000pound dump truck collided with his bicycle at a busy White River Township intersection. Nicholas Schroeder was unconscious and bleeding from the head when rescue workers arrived at the scene at the intersection of Fairview and Shadow hill Roads. Schroeder was taken by Myers Ambulance Service, to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, where he was pronounced dead at 3:28 p.m. A coroner’s report listed the cause of death as a blunt-force injury to the head. The driver of the dump truck, Jay G. Smith, 26, Greenfield, was treated at the scene and released. Smith was westbound on Fairview Road when the accident occurred about 10:50 a.m. Monday. He told sheriff’s deputies that he moved toward the center of the road to go around Schroeder, who was with a friend on the north side of Fairview Road waiting to cross over onto Shadow hill Road. Col. John Price of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department said the two boys apparently tried to dart across the street in front of Smith’s truck. The other boy, David Smithey, 13, made it safely to the other side but Schroeder was hit by a truck. Smith said he applied his brakes but was unable to avoid hitting the bicycle. He immediately stopped his truck and jumped out to help Schroeder, who was thrown from his bicycle, Smith told deputies. Smith’s account was backed up by, a witness who was driving behind the dump truck, which is owned by J&J Trucking of Greenfield and insured by Progressive Companies. The tri-axle dump truck was carrying no cargo at the time of the accident. The witness, Pam Dunivan of Greenwood, said Smith’s vehicle was traveling about 35 to 40 miles per hour at the most, the same speed as her car. The speed limit on that portion of Fairview Road is 40 miles per hour. “He was just there before the man could have done anything,” Dunivan said of Schroeder. “I about hit him (Smith) trying to stop.” Price said deputies at the scene estimated Smith’s speed at 35 miles per hour. “Speed wasn’t a factor in the accident,” he said. “It was just a quick movement by the child on the bicycle. “The driver tried to avoid it by veering to the left, but unfortunately it happened.” Schroeder would have been a sixth grader West Grove Elementary School this fall. Funeral arrangements are pending at Forest Lawn Wilson-St. Pierre Funeral Home, White River Township.  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)
 
 

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