Multiple children injured when driver loses control at school pick-up time

[laurie31]

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/11/..._strewn_a.html


http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/11/...in_fairfi.html

A woman in her 60s who lost control of her car and struck 11 people this afternoon in Fairfield was trying to avoid hitting children in the street tossing a tennis ball outside Forest Hills Middle School, her grandson told The Birmingham News.

Cheyenne Payne, 11, said his grandmother had come to pick him up from school. In her effort to avoid hitting one child, she swerved and stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brakes.

"I just called the Lord's name and prayed," Cheyenne said. He said he knew one of the students who was hit, a girl in his class.

Dedrick Peterson, the woman's son, came to the scene later.

"She was in shock. She was more worried about the people than she was worried about herself," Peterson said. "We are just praying that everybody recovers."

Fairfield Police Chief Pat Mardis said one child is in serious condition at Children's Hospital in Birmingham with internal injuries and at least one fracture. The adult victim is listed in critical condition at UAB Hospital in Birmingham with internal injuries and fractures. The other injured suffered bruises and fractures.

Six of the children injured were taken to Children's Hospital in Birmingham, officials said. Four of the children were being treated for cuts and bruises and one had been released, spokesman Garland Stansell said.

Princeton Hospital spokeswoman Jennifer Dodd would only confirm that the hospital received two children from the accident. Dodd said she could not provide a condition.

Some of the victims' parents have not yet been notified, because they have not been located, Mardis said.

The woman driver, whose name had not been confirmed by authorities, is being questioned at police headquarters, and as a routine will be tested for drugs and alcohol, Mardis said. Investigators believe the crash was an accident.

This site has a short video, but you can't really see anything, due to a (perhaps purposefully placed?) tree.

http://www.myfoxal.com/Global/story.asp?S=11547612

http://www2.nbc13.com/vtm/news/local...school/110608/

I presume there will be more on this in tonight's evening news. Early reports are conflicting. One says several children were playing in the street, another says one child ran out into the street after a ball. One says the woman was in her 60s, another said she was 80. At any rate, she has a disabled hang-tag. Whatever happened, I can't imagine how scared the parents were to get that call!

[phorsenuf]

Originally Posted by laurie31

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/11/..._strewn_a.html


http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/11/...in_fairfi.html




This site has a short video, but you can't really see anything, due to a (perhaps purposefully placed?) tree.

http://www.myfoxal.com/Global/story.asp?S=11547612

http://www2.nbc13.com/vtm/news/local...school/110608/

I presume there will be more on this in tonight's evening news. Early reports are conflicting. One says several children were playing in the street, another says one child ran out into the street after a ball. One says the woman was in her 60s, another said she was 80. At any rate, she has a disabled hang-tag. Whatever happened, I can't imagine how scared the parents were to get that call!

Why does that matter. Do you think it contributed the accident?

Such a shame. Hope everyone will be ok.

[laurie31]

Originally Posted by phorsenuf

Why does that matter. Do you think it contributed the accident?
Such a shame. Hope everyone will be ok.

I also heard that she had a seizure, but I couldn't find a link with that info. I should have mentioned it, though. That is why I pointed out that she was handicapped. Of course being disabled shouldn't affect your ability to drive, if you are licensed to do so. A seizure would explain why she was seen driving erratically before she hit the children, but we will have to wait for more details to come out. This only happened a few hours ago.

[phorsenuf]

Originally Posted by laurie31

I also heard that she had a seizure, but I couldn't find a link with that info. I should have mentioned it, though. That is why I pointed out that she was handicapped. Of course being disabled shouldn't affect your ability to drive, if you are licensed to do so. A seizure would explain why she was seen driving erratically before she hit the children, but we will have to wait for more details to come out. This only happened a few hours ago.

Ahhhh, that makes more sense now.

[laurie31]

Originally Posted by phorsenuf

Ahhhh, that makes more sense now.

Good! I didn't mean to inadvertantly insult drivers who need a handicapped tag. Initially, people were jumping to the conclusion that it must have been someone too busy yakking on their cell phone to pay attention. It's still tragic, but there's a big difference in the comments towards the driver when it was presumed to be a young person talking or texting, versus an older person who (according to one of the articles) panicked and stepped on the gas instead of the brakes when she tried to avoid hitting a child.

I'll watch the news at 10 and see if they have some more concrete details by then. I also wonder if the school will change how they have the kids line up for dismissal. My DD's school has the children line up along the road for pick up; I've often wondered just how safe that is. It seems lining up perpendicular rather than parallel to it would be safer, and might have prevented such a large number of children being involved in this accident. (I don't know if these children were waiting to be picked up in car line or were just congregating after school. It might not have been a factor at all, but something to consider for my own DD's school.)

[laurie31]

Update from the 10:00 news, also the AP has picked this up.

http://www.wpix.com/news/nationworld...,4106147.story



Nine children and one adult (a mother at the school to pick up her child) were injured, and the mother has now died. The children have non-life threatening injuries; only 3 were actually admitted to the hospital and are all expected to fully recover.

The driver is a 67 year old woman who says she lost control of the car. (apparently she did NOT have a seizure). The police do not suspect she was DUI, they think it was just a tragic accident. A sad detail is that she had already picked up her 11 year old grandson, and he was in the car with her when the accident happened. What a terrible thing for him to witness.

[Stacerita]

How sad.