Car hits two children outside Chavez Elementary

A car hit two small children Tuesday morning outside Chavez Elementary in east Salem.

The crash occurred around 7:45 a.m. as families were dropping students off for the day, said Aaron Harada, spokesman for the Salem-Keizer School District. Both children hit were students at the school, he said.

The children were taken to the hospital following the crash.

Harada said the vehicle that hit the students was not a school bus. He did not have further details about what led to the crash or any injuries to the children.

The driver of the car remained at the scene and cooperated with officers, according to Angela Hedrick, Salem police spokeswoman.

Police determined the crash occurred “at a slow speed with the driver’s vision impaired by sunshine,” Hedrick said in an email.

This story was updated after the Salem Police Department provided additional information.

Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.

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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers education, economic development and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for over a decade and is a past president of Oregon's Society of Professional Journalists chapter. Outside of work, you can often find her gardening or with her nose buried in a book.

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