Three siblings killed getting on school bus

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I agree that sometimes children dart out into traffic, and the driver genuinely isn't at fault ... but in this case, the driver ignored a huge yellow bus with flashing lights.

In the comment that you quoted of mine I was talking about my area and in generalities not the actual incident. The PP made a comment about not having buses and being glad as a worry of theirs was their children getting hit by cars. My comment was risks are still out there school bus or no school bus and I gave examples from my neighborhood of what I see on a day to day basis where children can easilly be hit by cars and it not due to being picked up by a school bus or dropped off by a school bus.

 

[IndianaMouse]

I don't see how that makes any difference. You're responsible for your actions whether it's your regular route or not.

I never said it did. I was responding to the Hikergirls question of whether or not this was her normal routine, not making excuses for the driver.

 

[runwad]

An illustration of the accident scene:

This doesn't look good for the driver. That road is straight, she wasn't going around a curve and came up upon them all of a sudden. And if she was distracted it wasn't for a second but a pretty long time by the look of the road. I don't think she will have good excuse for hitting them when you look at this view.

 

[luvsJack]

I have to say it: if several parents thought it was unsafe and it was only a matter of time until this happened; why on earth was there not a parent out there as the kids loaded the bus. I mean, I get work schedules and such but it’s more than one family so at least two parents possibly 3-4. Could they not have taken turns?

I don’t mean to blame them and I am sure they will be asking themselves this for the rest of their lives but I can’t help but think it. It’s what I would have done.

In the county my daughter lives in, an adult is required to be with the kids at the stop in the morning and there to get them off the bus in the afternoon. I don’t know what they do in the morning but if no adult get the kid off the bus, the driver will take them back to school and they call the parents. I completely agree with this rule.

 

[ronandannette]

Whatever her policy limits are. There will be a ton of investigation done, and it can get quite complicated. However, given the fatalities involved even if they could reduce liability to any degree, it's still worth more than what her policy limits are. However, this case is likely to drag out for years. The school district is going to be brought into it, the municipality, potentially the manufacturer of the lights/bus, the families' insurance carrier potentially (for underinsured motorist). I obviously don't know who her insurance is or what her limits are, but if they're smart, they'll offer them up immediately.

The charges against the driver? What would the school district and bus company have to do with it?

 

[Floridaman999]

The charges against the driver? What would the school district and bus company have to do with it?

I believe he means the eventual civil case that will more than likely be filed.

 

[sam_gordon]

This is not your traditional old school bus in size and shape and kind of has the shape of a delivery truck or work van so it is plausible that in the dark conditions suddenly coming upon a vehicle that looks like this doesn't seem like a hazard.

The red flashing lights would be a clue it's not a delivery truck/work van.

As far as the damage to the truck, it doesn't seem to take much any more to crumple up a car/truck.

The driver behind the pickup said she was driving 55 and caught up to the pickup. So the woman had to be going less than 55, and the speed limit was 45, so not unreasonable. I'm leaning toward the bus driver 10% culpable and the other driver 90%. This is based solely on the two article's I've read and is subject to change as more details emerge.

 

[Wendy31]

An illustration of the accident scene:

Looking at this illustration, it actually kinda makes me angry that the elementary-aged children have been expected to walk across a rural road where the speed limit is 55 mph.

And I'm surprised there haven't been other tragedies.

I haven't read any of the more recent reports regarding the accident. There's no crossing guard here, right? And there's no school zone - where the speed limit goes down to say 20 or 30 when the light's flashing? The only thing that's supposed to stop the oncoming traffic is the school bus "stop" arm being down?

Why can't the bus pull into the side street, load the students, drive down that other side street that's parallel to the highway, & then come back out onto the highway at the next side street?

 

[lifesavacation]

Looking at this illustration, it actually kinda makes me angry that the elementary-aged children have been expected to walk across a rural road where the speed limit is 55 mph.

And I'm surprised there haven't been other tragedies.

I haven't read any of the more recent reports regarding the accident. There's no crossing guard here, right? And there's no school zone - where the speed limit goes down to say 20 or 30 when the light's flashing? The only thing that's supposed to stop the oncoming traffic is the school bus "stop" arm being down?

Why can't the bus pull into the side street, load the students, drive down that other side street that's parallel to the highway, & then come back out onto the highway at the next side street?

You're right. The bus could easily pull into the side street and then drive and exit out the other side and those children wouldn't have to cross a highway

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

This is a very sad event for all families involved. This whole situation breaks my heart. But, Cell phone, no cell phone, just plain not paying attention, it doesn't matter. She broke the law by not stopping for the bus. She should and probably will pay for her mistake.

 

[Wubar]

This is a very sad event for all families involved. This whole situation breaks my heart. But, Cell phone, no cell phone, just plain not paying attention, it doesn't matter. She broke the law by not stopping for the bus. She should and probably will pay for her mistake.

She better pay. Mistake, accident or not, 3 children are dead. Her mental anguish alone, though heavy, doesn't seem like enough punishment for what happened.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Looking at this illustration, it actually kinda makes me angry that the elementary-aged children have been expected to walk across a rural road where the speed limit is 55 mph.

And I'm surprised there haven't been other tragedies.

I haven't read any of the more recent reports regarding the accident. There's no crossing guard here, right? And there's no school zone - where the speed limit goes down to say 20 or 30 when the light's flashing? The only thing that's supposed to stop the oncoming traffic is the school bus "stop" arm being down?

Why can't the bus pull into the side street, load the students, drive down that other side street that's parallel to the highway, & then come back out onto the highway at the next side street?

Yeah, no kidding. What a simple solution that would’ve been and it would’ve allowed the bus stop to be the next corner over, keeping the kids off the main road altogether. I can’t believe no one thought to make that change, especially if it’s true there had been multiple complaints.

 

[underdesea]

I wouldn't believe such details from social media.

Which is why I wrote the sentence that followed, which you didn't include:

I've seen social media posts saying the school bus driver estimated the 24-year old driver's speed at 80 mph. Don't know if there is validity to those posts.

 

[MillauFr]

Just another sad example on how people in the United States don't give enough respect to motor vehicles and the damage they can cause. Way too many people get injured or killed in car accidents. Driving is treated like a god given right in this country. Not a privilege like it should be.

 

[underdesea]

I never said it did. I was responding to the Hikergirls question of whether or not this was her normal routine, not making excuses for the driver.

Sentences are being taken out of context, which isn't helpful to the overall discussion.

 

[wenrob]

Yeah, no kidding. What a simple solution that would’ve been and it would’ve allowed the bus stop to be the next corner over, keeping the kids off the main road altogether. I can’t believe no one thought to make that change, especially if it’s true there had been multiple complaints.

The thing is a lot of parents complain about things like this but it’s usually to each other. We experienced this when our kids first started taking the bus. The kids had to walk over a bunch of large rocks to get onto the bus. Not near the dangerous situation described here but kids were getting hurt. The parents complained plenty but it took a newcomer, my DH, to do something about it. He called the city right away. For two weeks those parents would ask me if he had called but not one of them even bothered to try and their kids had been riding that bus for a couple of years. The city followed up with DH a few days after he called and in a little over two weeks they had dug up the rocks and put down a cement pad. I have no idea if it was a similar situation in this case or not but in my experience people generally want others to take care of the problem.

Which is why I wrote the sentence that followed, which you didn't include:

I've seen social media posts saying the school bus driver estimated the 24-year old driver's speed at 80 mph. Don't know if there is validity to those posts.

I just realized you quoted your quote. In any case I hope there’s no validity to that as he admits to waving the kids across.

 

[underdesea]

The thing is a lot of parents complain about things like this but it’s usually to each other. We experienced this when our kids first started taking the bus. The kids had to walk over a bunch of large rocks to get onto the bus. Not near the dangerous situation described here but kids were getting hurt. The parents complained plenty but it took a newcomer, my DH, to do something about it. He called the city right away. For two weeks those parents would ask me if he had called but not one of them even bothered to try and their kids had been riding that bus for a couple of years. The city followed up with DH a few days after he called and in a little over two weeks they had dug up the rocks and put down a cement pad. I have no idea if it was a similar situation in this case or not but in my experience people generally want others to take care of the problem.


I just realized you quoted your quote. In any case I hope there’s no validity to that as he admits to waving the kids across.

I was trying to quote another poster who used the first sentence only and said she wouldn't trust social media comments.

Anyway, since those early online discussions, initial statements have been released and a witness driving behind the pick-up seems to have indicated that the truck wasn't speeding.

 

[LSUmiss]

Yes. And if you want to say a bus driver should never have to make that kind of call in a 55 mph zone, I can probably agree with that. But if the bus driver is put in that position, I’m not sure how he/she can wait until there are absolutely zero oncoming cars on the horizon.

She should wait until the vehicle does actually stop.

 

[Jillpie]

I'm confused. I am not reading anything about the kids parents not crossing with them? These are 6 yr olds, right? Was the 9 yr old responsible for them, I may have missed this part though. I can't imagine that there wasn't an adult crossing them, in the dark. Please, tell me there was an adult and they just missed this car coming, yes? I mean, a 9 yr old surely wasn't put in charge of crossing these kids, right?

 

[sam_gordon]

Yeah, no kidding. What a simple solution that would’ve been and it would’ve allowed the bus stop to be the next corner over, keeping the kids off the main road altogether. I can’t believe no one thought to make that change, especially if it’s true there had been multiple complaints.

Just a theory, but I wonder if they didn't want the have the bus make two left turns (one into the neighborhood from the main road and another back onto the main road from the neighborhood). In hindsight, not a good decision, but if we all knew what the results were going to be from our decisions...