Lynn bicyclist hit by elderly driver

LYNN – A 16-year-old female bicyclist struck by a car driven by an 81-year-old Lynn man Saturday morning was taken to Salem Hospital and then a Boston hospital.Lt. William Sharpe said the accident occurred at 11:13 a.m. as Stanley Hinds turned left onto Washington Street from Boston Street. Sharpe said Hinds told police he could not stop his vehicle in time to avoid striking Kirstie Gillette.Her father, Scott, on Tuesday said his daughter was initially diagnosed with a severely sprained left ankle. She was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital to be checked for a head injury.”She has a fractured skull,” Gillette, a Lynnfield resident, said.Police and Gillette said the teen was not wearing a helmet. Gillette is a 10th grader at Lynn Vocational Technical Institute.”We don’t even know when she is going back to school. How often do we hear about this kind of thing?” Gillette said.Several accidents this year involving elderly drivers prompted legislators to push for drivers license reviews and increased testing for older motorists. No citations were issued to Hinds by officers who responded to the accident.According to records at the Registry of Motor Vehicles, Hinds was cited for failure to stop in Lynn on March 7, 1984.