The attitude of some people just burns me up! First of all, this was an unfortunate accident that could have turned out much worse. Thank God no one was killed, and I hope the injured child makes a full recovery. I'm a truck driver. It irritates me to no end to hear people immediately blame the truck driver any time there is an incident involving a truck. In this case, our responsibility, according to federal D.O.T. regulations, is to perform a thorough VISUAL inspection of the vehicle. Loose lugnuts USUALLY present a visual clue that they're loose, but not always. If there were no visual signs, the driver had no way whatsoever to know that they were loose. "Loose" can still be much tighter than hand-tight. You can't feel a loose wheel 40+ feet behind you. It's not practical for us to carry around a torque wrench and torque every lugnut on the truck- there are 100 lugnuts if the truck has hub piloted wheels, and 200 (half of which require an expensive special socket) if it has stud piloted wheels. Without seeing the wheel in question, I don't know if the driver could have known the lugnuts were loose. An investigation into the exact cause and the company's maintenance procedures and records needs to be done before anyone decides that it's solely the driver's fault. The vast majority of people in this area (Madison, Milton, Janesville) show absolutely no respect to truck drivers on the road, but think about this- virtually everything you own or touch (including the cars you use to cut us off) was hauled by a trucker who spends weeks or months at a time away from his family to bring you what you want and need. Show some respect- don't blindly hang the driver without knowing all the facts.

I guess my note was misplaced. I agree that Small Wonders is a wonderful daycare, I would not want my child anyplace else. And I did not mean to imply that the truck was on the little road, but this all happened on the same day that in 2 minutes I watched 3 cars pass in front of the building and only one made any attempt to stop at the stop sign. I just wish if you did not have business at the daycare or the one house on that road that you would not use it as a cut through to avoid the stop light, and if you must, PLEASE obey the stop sign, (even though it is poorly placed after the walkway from the door). My thoughts and prayers are with the family and their daughter, that is really all that matters in this, is that she makes a full recovery.

whythink- Thank you so much for your comments, and for opening a door to make an additional statement that I was holding off making as the discussion was going in a different direction.

My words were chosen last night to protect the privacy of the injured child and her family. It is my feeling that the family should be the one to comment on her condition. My staff and I have been in close contact with her family since the accident and continue to pray for them. Possibly, the more accurate statement should have been that nobody was critically injured or killed. I thank God, the wonderful hospital staff that is caring for her, my staff and their quick reaction, and the responding Milton Police Officer (who will remain unnamed). Because of them, she will be ok. This was a freak accident that could have resulted in an unthinkable outcome.

Both my children attend Small Wonders and it is a wonderful daycare. My thoughts and prayers are with the littler girl and her family.
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Perhaps mistakes were made, that doesn't make anyone "stupid." I would guess that a tire rolling into a daycare staff person and children doesn't happen everyday. I can tell you every single staff member at Small Wonders loves the children they teach. They are some of the most amazing people.
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I do not know why EMS wasn't called, if that is true. To me, that would seem to be a police matter...their training would give them more expertise in an accident like this.
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Regarding the comments of Bethdrew...Perhaps she misspoke or had incomplete information...or as of last night, has new information that would allow her to make the statement about nobody "seriously injured."
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This was a freak accident, plain and simple.

RBensen, have you ever heard of plain old stupid people? All the things you mentioned plus the truck driver is not even held responsible by the Milton Police? I can only shake my head....

I know for a fact that the injured child was transported by ambulance to a Madison hospital and ended up in critical care with internal injuries. This was way after the initial incident. There are some questions that need to be answered by this community:

Why wasn't EMS dispatched on the initial call?

Why did the police that were on scene choose NOT to request EMS?

Why did the daycare providers choose NOT to request EMS?

And why is this not being reported to the general public?

The system that is in place to protect the general public obviously failed!

Where is the public outcry?

I also wondered about Bethdrew's comment that no one was seriously injured when a child is hospitalized. Obviously, the child was seriously injured!

The print Gazette reports the driver was not ticketed. I don't understand that. All commercial truck drivers are responsible for their equipment to be properly maintained and functional. The driver is responsible for this accident and he should have been ticketed regardless of his ignorance of loosing his wheel.

So that's the 26/59 bypass they're building, OK. I looked at the map, and it's pretty nice. I could zip onto the bypass, go through 1/4 of a roundabout, and onto hwy 59. I can't wait to see it. Below is a link to the map, and you need to zoom into it. It's a big map.
http://www.miltonareachamber.org/LinkCli...

Bethdrew....How can you say "We are so very grateful that nobody was seriously injured" when a child is hospitalized in critical condition fighting for their life??? And I am sooo glad you jumped to correct the age of the child who will be 5 in a week and a half!
This Child and their family is in great need of everyone's thoughts and prayers right now, not the nit picking of road conditions and fault... it was a freak accident that no one could have expected. The important thing is a child is fighting in Critical care ICU. Once the child is recovering confortably and out of danger then start pointing fingers if you feel the need... now is not the time People. Now we need to come together as friends and community to pray and help this child to see their 5th birthday!!!!!! We love you sweet heart!!!!!!!

Hope the kids are going to be ok. The driver should be fined for this incident and held liable for the kids and the adults medical and future medial expenses. and any pain and suffering due to it.Glad to see the police made a good observation that The lug nuts holding the wheel to the vehicle weren’t tightened.

im a local truck driver and pass by there many times a day and the idiots that try to race to get through the lights should not be allowed through there. they pull out in front of us all the time. the kids and adults are always courteous there. but i guess people around this area dont give much thought to kids or other drivers.

Regarding McEwan Lane, it is set to be temporarily closed until the Hwy 59 bypass is complete. This was recently decided, and I am unsure as to the date this will take place. While yesterday's accident has nothing to do with the closure, it is true that the stop signs are frequently disregarded, and has been a source of major concern for Small Wonders and our neighbors for many years.

As the owner of Small Wonders Learning Center, I want to respond to badger1 to caution them to get the facts before posting them on a blog. We take our emergency preparedness very seriously. A letter was, in fact, put in every family's mailbox. Additionally, all families that were directly involved in the incident were contacted by phone. Our state Licensing Specialist was also contacted. We welcome any questions or comments, and feel that this was a very unfortunate accident that was handled as appropriately as it could have been. We are so very grateful that nobody was seriously injured. Also, there was one teacher involved, not three. And, the hospitalized child is four, not five.

The little road is McEwan Lane, all it does is cut out the turn at the light. Otherwise no businesses or houses. And there are stop signs that people need to obey if they are using it.

Since when is Hwy 26 a little road? "The vehicle was traveling north on Highway 26 at 10:45 a.m. when the wheel rolled off near McEwan Lane."

badger1 - Are people using the little road because the intersection gets so backed up? I've been going that way between Janesville and Whitewater while cnty hwy A is getting worked on, and that intersection sure has got a lot of cars on it now. I haven't used the little road yet. Maybe a change in the lights would help, like turn arrows, or something.

Nice! And the daycare did not even hand out a note. Sure my kid was not involved but I think this is something that they should have let us all know about. And it would be nice if people that insisted on using that little road would actually STOP at the stop sign in front of the building. While going to pick up my child today 3 cars came through and only 1 stopped. There is no reason to even use this road if you are not going to the daycare.