A 14-year-old boy was struck by a vehicle while he was using a crosswalk on Baker Avenue near Riverside Park in Whitefish around 2:46 p.m. Monday.

The teen, who is a Whitefish Middle School student, was transported to the hospital by ambulance with severe, but not life-threatening injuries, according to Whitefish Police Department Chief Bill Dial.

“The last time we talked to his father he was recovering,” Dial said. “We’re glad the young man is going to be OK.”

The driver of the vehicle, Michael D. Kinne, 76, of Whitefish was issued a citation for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, Dial said.

“Witnesses stated he was traveling southbound near the post office and appeared to be going under the speed limit,” Dial said, which is 25 mph.

Road conditions were wet, but didn’t appear to be a factor.

“It appears it was a situation where the driver didn’t see him and he didn’t see the driver,” Dial said.

Dial reminded both drivers and pedestrians to use caution at crosswalks.

Pedestrian safety laws

- Pedestrians’ right-of-way in crosswalk

When traffic control signals are not in place or not in operation the operator of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping if necessary, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a marked crosswalk or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, but a pedestrian may not suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle that is so close that it is impossible for the operator to yield.

­— When a vehicle is stopped at a marked crosswalk or at an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, the operator of a vehicle may make a right-hand turn if the pedestrian is in the opposite half of the roadway and is not in danger.

­— When a vehicle is stopped at a marked crosswalk or at an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection to permit a pedestrian to cross the roadway, the operator of any other vehicle approaching from the rear may not overtake and pass the stopped vehicle.

— A person may not operate a vehicle through a column of school children crossing a roadway or past a school crossing guard while the crossing guard is directing the movement of children across a roadway and while the crossing guard is holding an official sign in the stop position.

- Crossing at places in the roadway other than crosswalks

Every pedestrian crossing a roadway at any point other than within a marked crosswalk or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles upon the roadway. Between adjacent intersections at which traffic control signals are in operation, pedestrians shall not cross at any place except in a marked crosswalk.

- Operators to exercise due care.

An operator of a vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian or with a person propelling a human-powered vehicle (like a bicycle) or using an assistive mobility device upon a roadway, shall give warning by sounding the horn when necessary, and shall exercise proper precaution upon observing a child or an obviously confused, incapacitated, or intoxicated person upon a roadway.

Source: Montana Code Annotated 61-8-502, 61-8-503 and 61-8-504

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