By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 22, 2009 12:46 PM

A 4-year-old girl who was crossing an Alexandria street with her mother during the morning rush hour was hit by a car and taken to the hospital by helicopter with an injury that was not life-threatening.

Police and fire officials said the girl was hit by a slow-moving car as it made a left turn at the intersection of Glebe Road and Commonwealth Avenue about 8:10 a.m. The girl was awake and alert when she was flown to Inova Fairfax Hospital.

Capt. Luis Santano, a spokesman for the Alexandria Fire Department, said the girl was flown to the hospital in large part to avoid traffic.

The mother and daughter were walking within a crosswalk and had a walk signal at the time, said Jody Donaldson, an Alexandria police spokesman.

"As the car was attempting to make the left turn, the mother tried to get out of the way and the car's bumper hit the girl at a low rate of speed," Donaldson said. "It was driver error."

He said police plan to charge the driver with a moving violation, but specific charges were unavailable this morning.