Distracted driving crashes claim lives of schoolkids at bus stops

On Behalf of O’Malley Tunstall PLLC | Nov 5, 2018 | Firm News

If you stand on a Raleigh street corner and watch drivers go by, you will see it over and over: people behind the wheel looking at phones, talking on phones and pressing buttons on phones – all done at the expense of watching other vehicles, traffic signals and pedestrians.

A recent series of distracted driving crashes at school bus stops across the nation has made it painfully clear how much of a danger this reckless behavior is causing. Five children were killed in early-morning pedestrian accidents and six more kids were injured.

The first in the series of crashes was horrific: twin 6-year-old brothers and their 9-year-old sister were struck by a pick-up truck and killed as they crossed an Indiana street to get on board their school bus. Another child was also struck and had to be hospitalized.

A day later, a Baldwyn, Mississippi, 9-year-old was hit by a vehicle and killed as he, too, crossed a street to get on a school bus. That same morning, a 5-year-old Florida boy was struck by a car and injured as he walked by his bus. He was treated and released from a nearby Tallahassee hospital.

Another early morning crash left a 7-year-old boy dead at a school bus stop in Franklin Township, Pennsylvania. The bus driver found the child, who was apparently the victim of a hit-and-run driver.

That same day, five kids and two adults were struck by a vehicle as they waited at a school bus stop in Tampa, Florida. Two of the child suffered serious injuries, according to news reports.

We don’t know what it will take to stop this senseless carnage. Hopefully, news of this series of fatalities and injuries will wake at least a few people up to the dangers of distracted driving.