UPDATE: 14-Year-Old Student Hit By Teen Driver, Police Say

A 14-year-old girl was crossing Garretson Road from the Bridgewater YMCA parking lot Thursday when she was hit by a car driven by a 17-year-old, police said.

According to Bridgewater Township Police Lt. Al Nicaretta, the girl was crossing from the YMCA to the high school around 6:55 a.m.

Nicaretta said a 17-year-old driver was traveling east on Garretson Road and failed to see her in the crosswalk that goes directly from the YMCA to the school property.

The girl, Nicaretta said, was taken to Somerset Medical Center with non life-threatening injuries.

Superintendent of Schools Michael Schilder released a statement earlier on Thursday, saying the student was in the designated crosswalk on Garretson Road when she was hit by a vehicle traveling on the road in front of the high school.

"Early indication was that her injuries were minor," he said.

The driver, Schilder said, was issued a motor vehicle summons for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

Schilder said there was no crossing guard at that location, and that the police are responsible for determining where crossing guards should be located in the district.

"To my knowledge, a crossing guard has never been assigned to that location by the Bridgewater Police Department," he said.

Eileen Buckley—a Martinsville parent whose junior daughter, Noelle, saw the girl on the ground after the accident—said she always arrives at the school between 6:45 a.m. and 6:50 a.m. to drop her daughter off.

"I can tell you that I'm not surprised at all that a child was hit by a car this morning," she said. "The amount of traffic and the speed that some cars are driving at is frightening. The addition of the arriving school buses also contributes to limited visibility in the area."

And local resident Jacquie Zeiman, whose children are not yet at the high school, said she was surprised to hear that there are no crossing guards or police around during the morning arrival time.

"This concerns me as a parent of two children who will be attending the school in the coming years," she said. "But I am confident that the administration has the best interests of our children at heart, and will take the necessary corrective steps to ensure their safety."