July 26, 2009 – Herbert Whitaker, 7 years old, has died as the result of a car accident in Halifax, Massachusetts around noon time yesterday. He was riding his bicycle with his father and located in a marked crosswalk when he was struck by a car driven by a 76-year-old Plympton woman, Marcia Chadborne.
Onlookers unsuccessfully attempted to revive the boy before police arrived, at which time he was taken to Brockton Hospital Brockton hospital. He was pronounced dead there at 12:44 p.m. Chadbourne has been charged with motor vehicle homicide and failure to yield at a crosswalk, according to Halifax police. There was no indication whether or not she was speeding at the time of the accident. The speed limit in the area is 35 miles per hour.
Herbert Whitaker and his father were both wearing helmets at the time of the accident. A second younger child of Whitakers was riding on his father’s bicycle at the time of the accident. Neither the father, nor this child were struck or injured, according to police. This was the first fatal pedestrian accident in Halifax in several years.