9 year old struck by car in Bowie dies from injuries

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A 9-year-old boy in Prince George's County has died after he was hit by a SUV in Bowie Sunday night.

Police say the child, Jahbari Jawon Howe, of the 12700 block of Libertys Delight Drive in Bowie, Md. was struck by a SUV while he was riding his bike at about 7 p.m. in the 12800 block of Woodmore North Boulevard.

Howe was transported to an area hospital with critical injuries. He died Tuesday.

The driver of the Infinity QX56 was traveling on Woodmoore North Boulevard, and Howe was riding his bike in the opposite direction, according to a preliminary investigation.

Howe abruptly turned into the direction of the SUV before he was hit.

The driver remained on the scene.

Neither alcohol nor speed appeared to be a factor in the accident. No charges have been filed.

 

Comments

[oboe]

Of course speed wasn't a factor in the crash. I'm sure the driver was doing no more than 35 mph in this residential area.

Nice built environment, btw:

http://goo.gl/maps/TxGWE

[Jonathan Krall]

Based on conversations with the my local, I understand that crash reporting focuses on the _cause_ of the crash rather than factors affecting the _severity_ of the crash. I think this figures into the fuzzy logic that leads to the too-common conclusion that speed wasn't a factor in a crash. I'll be glad when all cars have "black box" data recording.

I certainly question statements like "Howe abruptly turned into the direction of the SUV before he was hit," unless they are based on the testimony of bystander.

[david johnson]

In my neighborhood of N.E. Washington. When I was a kid everybody drove slowly because they knew that their kids and their friends would be playing in the street. It was expected. I recall full games of kick ball played in the middle of the street.
We got to take back the streets this car madness has gone to far.

[oboe]

What @david johnson said.

Take a look at the Google streetview link. Now imagine a 9 year old child riding his bike around that cul-de-sac.

No way anyone should be driving more than 10 mph or so if there are children riding bikes in the street. Of course, the traffic engineers saw fit to make the streets 20 yards wide, and to provide swooping high-speed intersections so that no one would have to touch the brakes. Glad they got their LOS up.

[SJE]

A Q45 should almost definitely have a black box. The "speed wasnt a factor" is probably BS: the speed limit is the maximum, and if you see kids on bikes you slow the F* down. The fact that he couldnt see the kid and hit them suggests he was going too fast.

[twk]

There was a picture of the SUV on the WJLA web site. Quite the front end "dent" for "not speeding" in a residential area, in my opinion.

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/07/jahbari-jawon-howe-dies-after-being-hit-by-suv-91493.html

I live in Bowie and speeding is very a big problem in the residential areas. Lack of enforcement is also a problem.

[Kathy]

Thanks twk for posting the photo of the car. Wow, that was one big impact which really supports the idea that it was a rather high speed collision. My sister once hit a full size deer on a highway and the damage wasn't that bad. I wish all cars had black boxes.

[oboe]

@twk,

You have got to be fucking kidding me.

So the SUV hits a 9 year old child in a fucking residential area (http://goo.gl/maps/TxGWE) and it does that kind of damage?

And speed "was not a factor"? I'm sorry, but what a fucked up society we live in.

[twk]

@oboe

The posted speed limit is 25mph in this area. Did you notice the street are very wide? Often this results in drivers going too fast. Since this used to be a turf farm, visibility is not obstructed by trees. As you probably know the chance of death as a result of speed dramatically increases above 25mph.

Sounds like the only account of what happened is coming from the driver. Haven't heard of any witnesses coming forward.

Pretty messed up for sure.

[RyanB]

At least we can all take solace in the fact that Maryland still has it's contributory negligence law, lest that poor driver actually have to pay for the damage he's done. That would be the real tragedy.

[washcycle]

According to this article, "Automotive "black boxes" are now built into more than 90 percent of new cars." I can't find any information on whether the Infiniti Q56, but those odds are good. The police should check the "event data recorder" in any fatality.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/03/20/174827589/yes-your-new-car-has-a-black-box-wheres-the-off-switch

[washcycle]

The 2004 Infiniti QX56 has one.

http://www.carsandracingstuff.com/library/reports/2112.pdf

[twk]

The PG county police cruiser that was involved with a fatal crash several years ago in Bowie had a black box too. It was never looked at. The officer that killed another driver was given a ~$240 ticket and put back on duty. Other evidence suggested he was doing >50mph in a 25mph residential zone while off duty without any lights or siren. The civil suit awarded the victim's family something like $4M after a long battle.

I am not convinced black box data will be used. Maybe times have changed...

[SJE]

twk: PG county cops have a habit of tape recorders, black boxes etc not working at odd times, that just happen to coincide with events in which misconduct is alleged. I assume that this problem does not affect the QX56

[JeffB]

The damage done to the SUV does not look like 25MPH collide with an object damage. It looks like 40 - 45 MPH damage to me.

TWK posts the speed limit it 25MPH. The built environment would certainly support a "natural" vehicle speed of 40 - 45 MPH.

I'll eat my bicycle tire if there is proof that the car wasn't exceeding 25 MPH by a large measure.

[Jim T]

I am beginning to think that working with the police may be the most important bike-ped project for PG County.

[SJE]

Agreed.