The Chapel Hill Police Department is investigating a collision between a driver and teenaged bicyclist on Friday that left the bicyclist injured.
An alert issued by police said officers responded to a report of a crash in the 300 block of North Estes Drive in Chapel Hill at 3:45 p.m. Officers say 61-year-old resident Karla Slocum was driving westbound on North Estes when she made a left turn and struck a 13-year-old cyclist.
Police say the cyclist was taken to UNC Hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. According to a release from the department, Slocum is being charged with failure to yield.
North Estes Drive was limited to only east-bound traffic (in the direction of South Estes Drive) for more than a year until this June, as the town finished its Estes Drive Connectivity Project. The road work included the installation of a wider sidewalk and space for bicycles, especially near Estes Hills Elementary, Phillips Middle School, and the Azalea Estates community. The 300 block of North Estes Drive — which is between Granville Road and Halifax Road — was not part of the project. The incident marks one of the first reported ones by Chapel Hill Police along North Estes Drive since the reopening.
So far this calendar year, the police department has received reports and investigated 24 pedestrian-involved crashes and 14 bicycle-involved crashes, according to a town spokesperson.
No additional information is available at this time, according to the police department on Friday evening.
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Estes Drive is one of the most dangerous and busiest connection streets in Carrboro and Chapel Hill for pedestrians and bicycles. Cars are speeding, drivers are tailgating and there are blind corners. Everyone knows that many drivers ignore pedestrians crossings without consequences. The mayor part in Carrboro hasn’t even a sidewalk and this is one of the main connections to Seawell School Road with Seawell Elementary, Smith Middle and Chapel Hill High School serving students from Carrboro and Chapel Hill. For me the “connectivity” in the project is not correct as long as this new part isn’t connected and extended to the rest of Estes Drive. There is no safe connection between Carrboro and Chapel Hill for pedestrians and bicycles on Estes Drive.