Two Chelsea High School students struck by vehicle during cross country team run
Two Chelsea High School students practicing with the school’s cross country team Friday morning were struck by a vehicle.
One student was transported with serious injuries to the University of Michigan Health System Trauma Center. A second student was treated but released, said Chelsea High School Principal Julie Deppner.
Jim Payeur, chief of the Chelsea Area Fire Authority, said the fire department and Huron Valley Ambulance responded to a report of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle at 6:30 a.m. at the intersection of Old U.S. 12 and Freer Road in Chelsea.
“From dispatch information it appeared to be a serious incident,” Payeur said. “We responded and we did what we could do. As far as the details, it sounds like it was part of a Chelsea cross country team.”
Deppner confirmed the students attended CHS, but said via e-mail that details surrounding the medical condition of the students must come from the family.
Payeur said he did not know if the runners were male or female. The Chelsea Police Department is not releasing details about the victims, police said.
Payeur said the team frequently runs on Freer Road.
The Chelsea police and the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department are investigating.
Juliana Keeping covers general assignment and health and the environment for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at julianakeeping@annarbor.com or 734-623-2528. Follow Juliana Keeping on Twitter
Comments
Tony Dearing
Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 3:36 p.m.
Comments have been removed because they violated our conversation guidelines. You can find those guidelines here: <a href="http://www.annarbor.com/about/annarborcom-conversation-guidelines-comment-moderation/">http://www.annarbor.com/about/annarborcom-conversation-guidelines-comment-moderation/</a> In particular, on a story like this, we ask commenters not to speculate on things that haven't been established as fact, and not to assign blame in their comments. Thank you.
kaycc
Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 8:24 p.m.
I would like to point out that it is also speculation to say that "no one is to blame here, no one in the wrong." That has not been established by fact any more than that there was someone at fault. To 'speculate' means to conjecture without knowing all the facts. To say that there is no one to blame is, until proven to be true, pure speculation. We know the students were running in the dark where there was traffic. For all we know the students were not told to wear reflective gear and were not told to stop at crosswalks, in which case that would be negligence, and someone would be to blame. It is misleading to allow this discussion at all if you are going to allow only defensive speculation without allowing for the questioning of it. Yes, the facts are not out. Until then, we are all speculating, including those who proclaim the innocence of absolutely everyone involved.
Genboy
Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 11:58 a.m.
It is what it is. My son is on the team. The boy is his friend. I ran cross country in school. Kids have to run; they can't run 10 miles around a track every day. There is no one to blame here, no one in the wrong. Quit trying to vilify anyone. We all feel terrible about this, and pray for the boy's recovery, but get off your soapboxes and harsh judgements.
kaycc
Sun, Sep 4, 2011 : 3:09 a.m.
Let us pray for these students' recoveries. And let's hope the schools will learn from this, and no longer require or allow cross country team members to run when the conditions--darkness, fog etc.--are dangerous.
MJSteklac
Sat, Sep 3, 2011 : 1:56 a.m.
I was on the cross-country team when I was in high school over 30 years ago. Road-running was the best way to do distance training. Nevertheless, it was risky then and I'm sure that it's risky now. We don't know all the facts of how the accident happened. So we should wait until all the facts are in before speculating on all who was negligent, who was too tired, what are the deficiencies of the roads in the area, etc. Until then, I'll concentrate on praying that this young man has a speedy recovery.
Terry Star21
Sat, Sep 3, 2011 : 1:49 a.m.
Hoping and praying that everything works out for these students. This is a rare, very rare incident involving runners and traffic. High school and college runners have been using roads for training since I can remember. There is a reason for this type of training. And additionally, Road Racing has become one of the most popular (running) sports. The Olympic Marathon is run on roads since it's inception. However, runners are guests on roads and have no legal rights - except at crossing lights with traffic. Coaches preach safety on roads and most times monitor runners closely by running, bicycling or driving along with their athletes. Preparation is very complete by all. Again wishing the best to the athletes, their family and their school. In retrospect, it is difficult to believe some commenters here every went to school. This was an accident for God's sake.
DonBee
Sat, Sep 3, 2011 : 12:59 a.m.
This is a week before school starts. Next Tuesday hundreds of children will be walking to school, many on roads with no real shoulder and no sidewalk. I hope this does not happen again this year (decade, century) to any school student walking or running to school.
chapmaja
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 10:57 p.m.
The problem is that school that makes up the school zone is not in operation. It closed a couple years ago. The signs just were never changed.
ummsw
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 9:16 p.m.
I pray these kids will be alright ... I'm all for sharing the road and giving pedestrians and bicyclist the safe space they need..However as a driver I continue to be frustrated (especially in Ann Arbor) that cars are not given the same respect. Bicyclist need to stay in the bike lanes and not take over the entire road and pedestrians PLEASE if a sidewalk is available walk on it..not down the middle of the street.. Please remember cars have no place else to go but the street...the sidewalk is a legal option for both bicyclist and walkers...
Out-of-Towner
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 7:52 p.m.
Old 12 at Freer Road has a school zone that I've seen many drivers not slow down for (with a school on the north-west corner.) My prayers are with these students.
aquileyendo
Sun, Sep 4, 2011 : 11:22 p.m.
@5c0 No one says out-of-towner is talking about right now this summer. Besides, not all school start the same date. For example, private school start in august.
5c0++ H4d13y
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 9:15 p.m.
School doesn't start until next week.
aawolve
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 7:38 p.m.
The speculation in the comments on this story with no facts is spectacular.
WWBoDo
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 8:12 p.m.
and your point is?
Not a valid excuse for a newspaper
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 7:24 p.m.
Wake up people, and share the road. Don't drive if you can't do so carefully.
notnecessary
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 8:51 p.m.
Thank you for the public safety announcement of obviousness
ddjames
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 6:49 p.m.
I pray this student will recover completely. The student is a classmate of my daughter. They found out about it at the Freshman orientation this morning. My children are not on CC team in Chelsea but I know many. They run before the sun is up. Dangerous. They run on Freer and Old US 12. Dangerous. I have come across them in other Dangerous places. I have come across the runners in rush hour on Old US 12...where there is no berm Just plain dangerous. I don't get it. So it's cool in the morning...but it's foggy, it's dark. People are in a rush to get to work. It's sad. It's unnecessary. I will pray for this student's recovery and encourage you to do the same.
Buster W.
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 7:11 p.m.
I just don't understand running on a road at 6:30AM. Why not train on school grounds, parks, home course, etc. (especially at that hour)? As a former CC runner, we did train along fairly busy country roads but never before 8AM --- those were pre-cell phone days, too. I hope the victims are able to completely recover from this.
chelseami
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 7:03 p.m.
Totally agree!!! I am very surprised that this is the first accident. I thought for sure things would have changed all around with sports/extra activities on the roads when the mom passed away helping the band cross the street a few years ago. I totally understand they need to train, but there has to be a better solution then running in the street when it is dark out.
chapmaja
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 6:19 p.m.
Sadly, it is incidents like this that stop teams from training they way they could. When I was coaching track we developed a rule during track season that basically took away a substantial portion of the training runs we used to do because we had to cross a "major road". Thankfully the rule was changed after we complained. We were very serious about safety though and if we saw athletes violating safe running rules they were not allowed off school property. We took safety very serious, but we were not without incidents either. We had a few people who would intentially drive close to the runners and not give them room. One time we heard about this, contacted the local police department and a cop was watching the section of road a few days after when the same car did the same thing, this time within view of the runners. The police went after him and we got, as a team an appology letter from the drive the next week. I had plenty of instances running on dirt roads as well where drivers were not paying attention or would intentionally "gun it" when they got next to us, kicking rocks up at us. Runners need to be careful whern they are out running, but at the same time drivers need to be aware that people ride bikes, walk and run along the roads as well. The simplest fact is the only way to ensure your safety is to ensure our safety by watching out for everyone around you and knowing what is going on around you.
WWBoDo
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 6:09 p.m.
Gosh, I hope the runner is ok. And, clearly the proximate cause of the incident, at the moment, is not the priority, though, I do hope it wasn't texting / cell phoning while driving. I see so many people swerving these days because their nose is buried in their smart phone!
mh
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 5:34 p.m.
Let's hope the runner will recover. It's tough trying to get runs in on roads with not much of a shoulder to use and when most drivers are going faster than posted speeds (I use this route ). Runners need to be cautious and driver's need to get focused and stop speeding on their commutes.
chelseami
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 7 p.m.
It's not just the room on the roads. I remember dropping my kids off in the morning and seeing the runners on paved and dirt roads with no lights, no reflectors, no bright clothes. You could never see them in the morning.
notnecessary
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 5:08 p.m.
I hope that they are OK and everything will be ok first and foremost. There is a problem with some of these CC teams, though, running in the road. I'm not sure about Chelsea, but many occasions in Ann Arbor I've come around a corner to find the whole team running along the road. This happened to me just a couple days ago...looked like some sort of college team but still. I understand the need to train outside of a track, but please be extra cautious especially at times like 6 am when many drivers are tired from just waking up or just coming home.
notnecessary
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 8:47 p.m.
@no excuse. Ok. Just keep denying that there are people on the road that shouldnt be. Unfortunately we live in the real world where people drive drunk, tired, high, and while text messaging. Wake up!!!!!!!!!! Encourage our youth to be aware of their surroundings and be responsible...not just go around denying responsibility (which has nothing to do in this particular case because we do not know the details or who's fault this accident actually was) I suppose if this story were about kids That couldn't read ... We would all blame the schools and teachers instead of the kids having any responsibility for themselves...eh?
Not a valid excuse for a newspaper
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 7:26 p.m.
If you're so "tired from just waking up or just coming home" that you might hit a pedestrian, then you shouldn't be driving. Period.
glimmertwin
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 6:32 p.m.
I hope so too. 6:30 a.m. this morning was not a great visibility day. It is not quite daylight. Reflective clothing and facing traffic is a must.
Cheri
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 6:16 p.m.
@glimmertwin - I hope they were running on the correct side of the road. I know that I saw the John Glenn girls' CC team running on the wrong side of Cherry Hill the other day in Westland. It's hard to pay attention to the oncoming traffic when it's coming from behind you!
glimmertwin
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 5:45 p.m.
As long as the runners are abiding the law and running facing traffic, than they can run all they want in the road. I wish I had a nickel for every close call I have had only to see a cell phone in the hand of the driver as they drive past. I hope that is not the case here. For crying out loud, if a kid, or group of kids, can't run at 6:30 a.m. in the morning when can they run? This is exactly what parents should want kids doing - getting off their duffs and out of bed. I commend these kids and hope and pray the make full recoveries.
notnecessary
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 5:40 p.m.
@StarZone...there's a million people on the road that shouldn't. We can either pretend they're not there or perk up to our surroundings. I used to deliver pizzas in Ann Arbor until 3AM...I could assume that everyone was sober but that would have been wrong...and could have cost me an accident.
notnecessary
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 5:38 p.m.
You are right. They should be...and so should the runners, it goes both ways. It is not OK to run in the street or ride your bike in the street oblivious to what is going on around you. Being caution is also called being responsible.
StarZone
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 5:36 p.m.
Since the accident was apparently at an intersection with a light, I'll be interested to find out if it had something to do with being on the road or drivers not paying attention at the intersection. But drivers should be extra cautious at 6:00 AM too. Why are you on the road if you are tired and can't pay attention? I don't like people running or biking on the road as the next people, but drivers need to be cautious as well.
Bam
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 5:28 p.m.
Maybe it's the DRIVERS that should be cautious when they are "tired from waking up or just coming home"...
Bertha Venation
Fri, Sep 2, 2011 : 4:21 p.m.
I pray they will be alright.