The 15-year-old girl who was struck by two vehicles while walking to a Christmas parade at Dalton on Thursday evening has been identified as Bibian Santana. She is a JROTC cadet from Dalton High School.
At 5:19 p.m., Ms. Santana attempted to cross westbound across Thornton Avenue near Waugh Street. She made it across the first two lanes, but was struck by a Nissan Murano SUV in the soutbbound lanes. The Murano was driven by Elsa Guzman, 45, of Dalton. The impact threw Ms. Santana onto the street where she was run over by a Honda Civic driven by Katrina Allen, 29, of Dalton.
The victim had broken bones including a broken femur and broken ankle. She was transported to Hamilton Medical Center and later airlifted to Erlanger Hospital as a precaution.
Traffic investigators on Friday said she was awake, alert and talking. She was doing better than expected on Friday and her injuries appeared to be limited to broken bones.
This accident is being investigated by the Dalton Police Department. Officials do not anticipate charging either driver in the incident. All indications from the investigation at this point indicate that Ms. Santana was at least 120 feet away from a crosswalk when she attempted to cross the road and ran out in front of the two vehicles.