A five year-old boy was struck while riding his bike to school yesterday morning in Gower, MO - a small town 40 miles north of Downtown. The 17 year-old motorist says the sun in his eyes in his eyes.  He was ticketed for not wearing a seatbelt, but not for hitting a bicyclist.  As Jeff put it, the teen was ticketed for his own safety, not the person he hit.

The boy was flown to Children’s Mercy Hospital, where he is in fair condition.

Local boy in the hospital after being hit head on by a truck
2/26/2007
KQTV-2, St. Joseph

The Gower community is shaken up after a car accident sends a young boy to a hospital.

Gower residents told KQ2 the five-year-old boy was riding his bicycle to school in the morning. He made it about four blocks before he was hit head on by a pick-up truck.

The scratches on the pavement where Brayden Gallop`s bicycle was hit are still visible. Highway patrol said he was hit by a truck going the opposite direction on Cummings Road.

The driver, 17-year-old Kirby Smith, told troopers he tried to avoid two other bike riders, but hit Gallop in the middle of the road instead. He said the sun was in his eyes and he did not see him.

The other bicyclists were Gallop`s siblings. Gallop was taken by air ambulance to Children`s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City with serious injuries. The Gower community said they are concerned for everyone involved.

“I think the family of the little boy are fairly new to the community, so not many people knew them but we`re concerned when anything like that happens,” Bob Elliot, Gower resident, said.

Hospital workers tell us five-year-old Gallop is in fair condition but they would not tell KQ2 what type of injuries he was treated for.

The 17-year-old driver of the car was sited for not wearing a seat belt and released.