Andover MA Girl Killed by Truck Identified as Sydney Olson – NBC Boston
The driver of a truck that struck and killed a 5-year-old Andover, Massachusetts, girl earlier this year will not face criminal charges, prosecutors announced Friday.
Sidney Olson was with a group of people at the intersection of Main and Elm Streets in the crosswalk near Elm Square when the accident occurred around 5:15 p.m. on May 9, according to authorities. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The truck driver stopped after the accident and cooperated with the police.
“The results of the investigation do not provide sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against the tractor-trailer driver,” the Essex County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement issued Friday morning. “The driver was stopped at the intersection. As he began to pull forward when the light turned green, he could not see Ms. Olson traveling on her scooter in the crosswalk below. The driver was not impacted by any objects and immediately came to a controlled stop after the collision.”
Community members said the intersection can be difficult and confusing.
Sydney’s family said they were walking to an art class when the incident happened – the girl and another family member were in the crosswalk with the walk sign visible, following a route they had taken “hundreds of times before”.
“The rest was a blur. Sydney was hit by a truck and killed, leaving an impossible void in our lives,” the family said in a statement in May.
Her family described her as a “wildly creative” explorer who loved making art, picking flowers and Taylor Swift’s music. Her family said their “greatest hope is that Sydney’s boundless love for everyone will encourage others to seek out the greater good of our community beyond this.” Tragedy.”
They also noted, echoing concerns shared in the Andover community since the accident, that the intersection is known to be dangerous and needs to be fixed.
“This intersection has long been considered dangerous. Although we are not engineers, we also know that our community can do better. We hope that the city will quickly make changes to that and other high-traffic intersections so that no one has to experience the pain that we feel.” “For now,” the statement said.
Read Sidney’s family’s full statement here:
We are aware that there is media interest in the tragic accident that occurred Tuesday night in Andover. As a family, we have prepared the following short statement about the child in question, Sidney Mae Olson. This is the only statement we will make, and we hope the media will respect our privacy in this incredibly difficult time.
On Tuesday night, our family was walking to art class on Main Street in Andover. Our five-year-old daughter, Sydney, and another family member crossed the crosswalk on Elm Street, where the crosswalk sign showed it was still safe to cross. As long-time residents of the neighborhood, we’ve followed this route hundreds of times before. The rest was a blur, and Sidney was hit by a truck and killed, leaving an impossible void in our lives.
Sydney was a bright, lively-eyed girl with vibrant curls. She was in the Springboard to Kindergarten program at SHED School in Andover, where she became known for her gentle curiosity and budding ability to calm conflict and find common ground in groups.
She was fiercely creative, designing her own clothes, creating elaborate displays, and filling our home with her unique brand of abstract art, unlike anything we had seen. She picked flowers everywhere she went, often picking a rose from the garden in front of the Enterprise Bank, despite her parents’ objections. She’s memorized every lyric to dozens of Taylor Swift songs, and gladly takes the microphone to sing at crowded karaoke sessions.
She was an explorer, whether roaming the mountains near our home in Warren, Vermont, looking for porcupine tracks, or circling the New England Aquarium, book on marine life, circling her favorites from stingrays to sleeping octopuses.
For her last birthday, she wanted a rainbow design because it “incorporated everyone’s favorite color.”
Our greatest hope is that Sidney’s boundless love for everyone will encourage others to seek out the greater good of our community after this tragedy. This intersection has long been considered dangerous. Although we are not engineers, we also know that our community can do better. We hope the city makes quick changes to that and other high-traffic intersections so no one has to experience the pain we feel now.
Eric, Mary Beth, Sydney and Ellis Olson
A 5-year-old girl was killed after she was struck by a tractor-trailer at a busy Andover intersection on Tuesday.
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