Tears flowed in Novato and the rest of Marin as word got out that a 12-year-old girl died Thursday evening of injuries suffered when she was struck by an SUV while riding her bike home from school.
Hailey Ratliff was a Sinaloa Middle School student who moved to Novato a month ago with her family from Albuquerque, N.M. Several people who identified themselves as her relatives posted "rest in peace" messages on their Facebook pages Thursday night and sent messages to Novato Patch asking for prayers for the family.
"She is our niece and we love her very much — such a pretty loving little girl who had a very bright future," wrote her aunt, Laura McCarty. "Her father and mother are wonderful people they are very giving and loving. She will be truly missed forever. RIP we all love you."
The Novato Police Department confirmed her death in a release at 8:55 p.m. A nursing supervisor referred a call about Ratliff's health to the Alameda County Coroner's Office.
At 2:59 p.m. Thursday, Novato police and fire officials responded to the crash site on Novato Boulevard just west of San Marin High School and just east of Sandy Creek Way. Police Acting Lt. Jennifer Welch said the child was on a bike and was struck just in front of a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. substation and was transported in critical condition to a hospital.
Ratliff died at about 5:30 p.m., Welch said.
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I know not the details of how it happened, or who was "at fault," and our whole system is at fault here, really. There is a lack of infrastructure for bicycles, and an over dependence on automobiles. We all sometimes do things without looking/seeing first, on bikes, or in cars, and sometimes the results will be felt and hurt forever. SUV's are overlarge, wasteful, tanks, too often driven mindlessly with only one or two folks, who are so insulated, entitled, and oblivious. Why do we feel that we need the things at all?