Ridgeview student hit by car on Blanding Boulevard

14-year-old taken to Orange Park Medical Center

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – A student at Ridgeview High School hit by a car Thursday morning suffered only a minor injury, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

According to FHP, 14-year-old Alexis Jean Tierney was struck in the intersection of Blanding Boulevard and Jefferson Avenue about 7:30 a.m. as she crossing the street toward Ridgeview High School. Troopers said she stopped in the middle of the crosswalk and was looking down at her phone when she was hit.

FHP reported that the driver saw the light from Tierney's cellphone and tried to avoid her, but could not stop in time. Tierney was taken to Orange Park Medical Center.

Tierney was the second teenager struck by a car this week while walking to school. Elizabeth Ross, 15, was killed Monday while crossing Alden Road on her way to Sandalwood High School.

Dan Capitti, a sign waver for businesses at the intersection, is not surprised that a teenager was hit while looking at a phone.

"Most of the time, like you said, (pedestrians will) be on phones listening to music, not even paying attention at all," Capitti said. "They wouldn’t be doing anything except paying attention to their phone, and that’s it."

News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said this is a big problem, especially since the Jacksonville ranks third in the country for pedestrian fatalities.

"A high percentage of people that are hit by cars in Jacksonville are between the ages of 17 and 29," Smith said. "Most people focus on texting and driving and laws about texting and driving, but walking can be just as dangerous."

Smith said it’s imperative for parents to remind young people in an era of texting and Pokémon Go to be safe.

People who are hit while texting and walking have become so numerous that some states, including New Jersey and Arkansas, are looking to ban texting while walking in public.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is distributing warnings on the dangers of walking and texting, including a YouTube video on the subject. 


About the Authors:

Scott is a multi-Emmy Award Winning Anchor and Reporter, who also hosts the “Going Ringside With The Local Station” Podcast. Scott has been a journalist for 25 years, covering stories including six presidential elections, multiple space shuttle launches and dozens of high-profile murder trials.