Boy 6 Killed by Swing Gate Struck By Car

Boy 6 Killed by Swing Gate Struck By Car

From the Philadelphia Inquirer

A boy, 6, was killed while on his bicycle on Martin Luther King Drive in Philadelphia about 1:30 p.m. yesterday. The boy was with his parents near Sweetbriar Drive, where one gate was closed and one open, said Philadelphia Police Sgt. John Long. A car making a turn hit the gate, which swung and hit the boy. No charges were filed, he said, and the investigation was continuing.

MLK Drive is closed to vehicular traffic on weekends from April to October from 7am - 5pm except for the section from the Art Museum to Sweetbriar which opens to traffic at 12pm. Wooden swing gates force traffic to turn left.

But sometimes inattentive drivers crash the gates, in April of 2004 a car hit the gate that swung into 6 cyclists, sending 3 to the hospital. It's time for the city to think of a better solution for keeping traffic off the drive.