A two-year-old boy was struck by a car recently in Massachusetts, escaping from his mother while waiting at a school bus stop to take his older siblings to school. He was airlifted to the hospital, where he is recovering.
Young Pedestrian Hit at Bus Stop
The incident occurred on the morning of September 14, 2016, in the town of Norfolk, Massachusetts. It was 8:30am on a Wednesday, so children of all ages were gathered at bus stops around the state to get to school. One such bus stop was on Strawberry Lane, in Norfolk. There, a 26-month-old child was waiting with his mother and other siblings for the bus that would take the older children to school. Suddenly, the youngest child bolted away from his family. His mother was unable to catch or stop him from running out into the street, and he was run down by a passing vehicle.
The car accident left the child lying on the side of the roadway. He was conscious and alert, but in lots of pain and suffering from his injuries. The driver of the car stopped immediately and stayed on the scene to help until medical personnel arrived. The boy was airlifted to Tufts Medical Center, where his condition was left unreleased. The driver of the car that hit him was a 44-year-old local resident of the town. The crash is under investigation, but she has not been charged.
Accidents at Bus Stops are Common
Unfortunately, this is far from a rare occurrence. Injuries from car accidents that happen at bus stops are surprisingly commonplace. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), between 2003 and 2012, no fewer than 174 school-aged children perished in accidents related to school transportation. Out of these 119 were pedestrians at the time of the accident. Out of these 119 pedestrians, 30 percent were killed by vehicles other than school buses.
Getting Legal Help Can Lead to Compensation
If you or someone you love has been hurt by a school bus or in an accident related to school-transportation, hiring a skilled personal injury or car accident attorney can mean the difference between getting the compensation that you deserve from the people or person most responsible for your accident, or footing the bill, yourself. Regardless of whether the perpetrator was a school bus driver or someone driving their own vehicle, keeping our bus stops safe is of the utmost importance. We can ensure that this happens by holding accountable those drivers who drive negligently around them, putting kids at needless risk.
Cobb County attorney Joel Williams takes these accidents very seriously. There is no reason why our children should be afraid to stand at the corner and wait for the bus that will take them to school. We can make sure that they feel safe by doing all that we can to ensure their safety at their bus stops, and we can do this by getting compensation from negligent drivers every time they put our children in harm’s way. Contact Williams Elleby Howard & Easter to get the legal representation that you need.
