Harmony Borough Driver Hits Kid on Bike, Flees the Scene

Crash

On August 9th, a boy participating in a summer triathlon camp at Zelienople Community Park rode his bike through the intersection of Highland Avenue and Pittsburgh Street in Harmony Borough when he was hit by a driver, who then fled the scene. Camp counselors helped the boy off the pavement and took care of him until paramedics arrived and took him to the hospital. Fortunately, the boy only suffered cuts and bruises and was released from the hospital later that day.

Context

Harmony Borough is a tiny community, both in population (942 as of the 2020 Census) and area (0.4 square miles). Highland Avenue and Pittsburgh Street are both local streets maintained by the Borough. PennDOT lists their average cars per day as only 25 and 35 respectively. It is not a busy intersection. Highland Avenue varies in width a bit from property to property, but is generally less than 18 feet wide, while Pittsburgh Street is only 24 feet wide.

I talked to a neighbor at the corner who said that while most people drive safely through the area, some people do speed on Pittsburgh Street. She said that the summer triathlon program the boy was a part of will usually ride bikes north on Pittsburgh Street, turn left onto Highland Avenue, and then turn left again onto Parkway Street in order to head back to Zelienople Community Park. The program has been running every summer for years.

Several local and state statutes are relevant to this case. First, Harmony Borough Ordinance 392.3 suggests that the boy may have been at fault if he failed to yield to the car:

Where use of skateboards, bicycles, in-line skates and scooters or other like instrument is permissible within the Borough, the operator of said instrument shall yield the right of way to any pedestrian, motor vehicle, or other user of said sidewalk, street, or parking lot and shall not interfere with the proper use of any public or private way by any other person. [emphasis added]

This ordinance, which also includes a legally questionable ban of skateboards in an entire zoning district of the Borough, is overly broad (who has to yield if both a skateboard and a scooter operator are using a sidewalk?) and fails to consider bike riding as a legitimate way of getting around. It also contradicts State code. Title 75 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes § 3501.(a) states:

Every person riding a pedalcycle upon a roadway shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this title…

So people on bikes should be treated the same as people in cars. Glad we cleared that up.

Of course, the driver who fled the scene has grossly violated State statute. Title 75 § 3742 requires the driver of any vehicle involved in a crash resulting in injury or death to stay at the scene of the crash, give their information to the other person(s) involved in the crash and to the police, and render “reasonable assistance.” Failure to do so is a misdemeanor of the first degree, which according to Title 30 § 923.(a).(5) carries with it “a fine of not less than $250 nor more than $5,000, or imprisonment not exceeding 90 days, or both.” If you have any information on the driver you are asked to relay that information to Zelienople Police, who cover both Zelienople and Harmony Boroughs.

Countermeasures

First of all, I don’t mean to downplay the boy’s injuries, nor do I mean to dismiss the mental trauma of a crash, which as we saw in the recent Tarentum crash, can be severe, especially for kids. But in a way, this outcome shows the benefits of a calm traffic system. Both these roads are narrow, encouraging lower speeds, and have fewer cars because the Zelienople-Harmony grid system disperses traffic more evenly across the two towns. There are easy, small measures that could be taken to further calm things, like adding basic lane markings to Pittsburgh Street, but as it is this is a naturally calm traffic system, and while no system can completely eliminate crashes, a calm traffic system will reduce their severity. Now, if this section of town is regularly used as a fitness loop for children (or adults for that matter), it is worth considering converting part of the right of way to a multi-use path to further separate kids on bikes from cars. But at the end of the day, this system could be considered exemplary for other communities wishing to reduce the severity of crashes.

Contacts

First, if you want to make sure people on bikes aren’t treated like second-class citizens in Harmony Borough, you can contact them at (724) 452-6780 or email them here and push for the repeal of Borough Ordinance 392. But as this crash is something of a best case scenario, I would encourage you to reach out to your elected officials wherever you are and let them know how the calm traffic system in Harmony Borough reduced crash severity and saved lives, and how it can in your community as well.