Girl in critical condition after bicycle struck by car

Dan Kulin

Thursday, May 6, 2004 | 11:37 a.m.

A North Las Vegas third-grader was in critical condition late Wednesday after being hit by a speeding car while riding her bicycle home from a friend's house, police said.

Police said the girl is 8 years old and was on a ventilator and unconscious at University Medical Center.

Police did not release the name of the injured girl, but 9-year-old Christen Albano said the girl is her best friend.

The two girls go to and from school together, and spend many afternoons riding their bicycles around the neighborhood and playing at a small park at the corner of Craig Creek Avenue and Revere Street, where the accident happened about 4:30 p.m., Christen said.

Christen said the unnamed girl came over to her house after school Wednesday, and shortly after she left to go home, Christen heard police and ambulance sirens and went outside to see what was going on.

Christen said she realized her friend had been hit when she saw the girl's shoes, bicycle and backpack, clear with purple trim around the zipper, in the road.

"I saw them put her in the ambulance and I started crying my head off," Christen said. "She's my best friend and I'm just really sad and I hope she's OK."

North Las Vegas Sgt. Dan Ewing said the injured girl went through a stop sign at Craig Creek and into Revere Street where she was struck by a blue Chevy Lumina. The girl was not wearing a helmet, he said.

The driver of the car, 29-year-old Kimberly Bunch, was northbound on Revere at more than 50 mph even though the speed limit there is 35 mph, Ewing said.

Police said Bunch's speed apparently kept her from being able to stop before she hit the child. Bunch's car skidded 117 feet before hitting the girl, and the car continued to skid for 87 feet after hitting the girl, Ewing said.

Ewing said no charges had been filed as of Wednesday night. Police said they did not yet know whether drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash. They had planned to test Bunch's blood Wednesday night and wait for the results before filing charges, police said.

Christen and other neighbors said cars often speed down that stretch of Revere, which is on a slight hill between Alexander and Craig roads.

"There's a lot of speeding here," said John Beel, 60, who lives two houses from the intersection where the crash happened.

"I work day shift so I hear it all night," Beel said, describing the vroom of motorcycles whizzing by his home at night.

But Beel said that prior to Wednesday, the area had been lucky and had not had many accidents because Craig Creek is not a very busy road.

Ewing said the intersection "isn't on our list of high crash areas."