A 14 year old student was taken to Kwong Wah Hospital on Tuesday morning after a Tesla driven by his father rolled over his foot outside a secondary school in Tai Kok Tsui as students arrived for the first day of the new academic year.
The accident happened at about 7.33am outside a secondary school on Sycamore Street, where the morning rush of students and parents had just begun. Police are investigating how the incident occurred.
According to the information available, the boy had arrived at the school with his 47 year old father, who was driving the Tesla. After getting out of the electric vehicle, the student apparently realised that he had left an item inside and turned back towards the car to retrieve it.
It was during that moment that one of the Tesla's rear wheels rolled over his foot.
The student was left in severe pain and was unable to continue into school. Staff at the school responded at the scene and provided him with a chair while they waited for emergency medical assistance to arrive.
Paramedics subsequently reached the school and found the boy conscious but suffering significant pain from the injury. He was then taken to Kwong Wah Hospital for medical treatment.
A woman accompanied the injured student as he was taken for treatment, carrying his schoolbag as the emergency response unfolded.
The accident occurred at a particularly busy time of the morning, with the school day beginning and parents dropping off children near the campus. However, police have not indicated whether congestion, visibility, the position of the vehicle or any other factor contributed to the incident.
The circumstances surrounding the accident remain under investigation.
Accident Occurred During Morning School Drop Off
The incident began as an apparently routine school drop off. The student's father was behind the wheel when the Tesla arrived outside the school shortly after 7.30am.
The boy left the vehicle but then returned to retrieve an item he had apparently forgotten. The sequence placed him close to the vehicle at the moment the rear wheel moved over his foot.
The available account does not state whether the vehicle was stationary when the student returned, whether the father was aware that his son had approached the car again, or precisely how the Tesla began moving. Those details are expected to form part of the police investigation.
Unlike a conventional petrol powered car, the Tesla involved was an electric vehicle. That fact alone does not establish a cause for the accident, and there is no indication that a mechanical or technical problem was responsible.
Police have not publicly attributed blame to the driver or the student.
School Staff Helped Before Ambulance Arrived
After the boy was injured, school staff assisted him while emergency services were contacted.
The student was provided with a chair as he waited for medical help. When paramedics arrived, they found him conscious but in severe pain.
He was subsequently transported to Kwong Wah Hospital, one of the hospitals serving residents in Kowloon, for further assessment and treatment.
A woman was seen accompanying him while carrying his schoolbag. The available information does not identify her or explain her relationship to the student.
No details have been released about the exact nature or severity of the student's foot injury, nor has information been provided about how long he was expected to remain in hospital.
Police Investigating Circumstances
Police are now examining the circumstances of the accident.
The investigation is expected to establish the movements of the vehicle and the student immediately before the wheel rolled over his foot. Investigators may also need to determine whether the vehicle had begun moving before the boy returned, whether the driver could see him and what happened in the seconds leading up to the injury.
At this stage, there is no information indicating that the incident was deliberate.
The accident also illustrates the risks that can arise around school entrances during morning drop offs, when vehicles, students, parents and school staff can all be moving through the same confined area. Even a brief return to a vehicle can put a child close to moving traffic.
For parents dropping children at school, the incident serves as a reminder of the importance of making sure passengers have collected their belongings before leaving a vehicle and that children remain clear of the vehicle's path once they have stepped out.
For investigators, however, the immediate task is to establish exactly what happened outside the Tai Kok Tsui school at 7.33am.
The 14 year old was conscious when paramedics arrived and was taken to Kwong Wah Hospital for treatment. Police are continuing their investigation into the accident.