Fla. Teen Dies in Scooter Accident, Remembered as 'Straight-A Student' Who Wanted to Help Others

Mar. 15, 2025

A Florida teen is being remembered for his drive to help others after he was killed in a scooter accident last week.

The 17-year-old victim wasriding a scooteron the sidewalk in Daytona Beach just before 4 p.m. on Friday when the crash occurred, Daytona Beach police spokeswoman Carrie McCallister revealed on Sunday, according toThe Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Hutchinson’s loved ones told WESH that the young man was testing out the scooter, which he had purchased earlier in the day. It is believed that he was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.

The victim was transported to Halifax Health Medical Center, where he died at 11 p.m.,News-Journalreported.

The DBPD did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

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Hutchinson’s family spoke highly of the late high school student in separate interviews with WOFL and WESH.

His mother, Rebecca Watkins, described him as a “wonderful young man” and “straight A-student to WESH, adding, “Never gave me not one issue, not one problem.”

Hutchinson was a member of his high school band and had recently been accepted to the University of Kansas, whichhis mom saidwas “the college of his dreams,” according to WOFL.

After the COVID-19 pandemic hit around the world, Hutchinson revealed he wanted to become an epidemiologist, per the reports.

“My son didn’t want to go to school to be a CEO and be rich,” Rodrick Hutchinson Sr. told WESH. “My son was going to school to help people to make a difference in this world.”

Hutchinson, who would have turned 18 next month, had purchased the scooter involved in the crash with money he earned while working at a local Walmart, Watkins told WOFL.

Watkins wonders what might have happened had her son been wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. “If he’d had a helmet on, it would have been a different story, you know?” she told WOFL.

Police said the driver of the vehicle that hit Hutchinson remained at the scene of the crash, according to theNews-Journal. It is unclear if they will face charges.

An investigation into Friday’s crash is ongoing, per the report.

source: people.com