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Water boy hospitalized after collision at busy Buckhead intersection
City of Atlanta officials said police are approaching children selling water bottles in traffic with city hall programs that encourage entrepreneurship. Some are skeptical they'll make an impact.
ATLANTA - It has happened again. One of the boys who hustle motorists for a dollar for a bottle of water was struck by a vehicle.
It happened last Friday at one of the busiest intersections in Buckhead: Lenox Road and the Georgia 400 Loop.
The injured teen, 15, saw an off-duty officer who was working the intersection. He and the other boys apparently feared they might be detained and tried to flee.
The female motorist who struck the child is a nurse. She immediately went over to him to try to render aid.
She was not charged.
EMTs took that child to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Eggleston. Doctors successfully treated the boy and his family took him home.
"None of the boys will be safe when they go into the intersections", said Marci Collier Overstreet.
Overstreet is co-chair of the mayor’s task force aimed at finding alternatives to having these boys on the corners and in traffic danger.
A website has been established to try to marry organizations that have internships (paid) and youth seeking jobs.
The address is Hireatlantayouth.com.
If the child is older, city officials will try to get them back into school or a GED program.
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