Three siblings killed getting on school bus

[mummabear]

Article says it was a 24-year-old female driver in a pickup truck, hard to imagine a phone was not involved for a driver that age.

Ageist much?

Nothing on any of the reports suggest she was.

 

[mousefan73]

Such a tragedy. I read that and my heart just broke for those parents. That pain is one that will have no end and no parent should ever have to experience it.

With that said, I actually hate to see people who do this go to prison. What restitution is that? I would rather see them have to 'serve' speaking at high schools. That would actually possibly do some good. Put together a program, put it through driver's ed programs etc.

Putting a young person, who had no malice in their heart, into a prison system with criminals who stab and rape, doesn't seem to really cause the driver to repay society. I know someone in this exact situation. No phone, no drugs, no drinking....just a stupid distraction and people are dead. No previous tickets for anything and yet they are in prison with violent criminals. There's got to be a better way to do this.

Unfortunately the privatization of prisons, often with those operators backing and donating to of a certain political party that pushes zero tolerance leads to a revenue price tag on each inmates head. Just another way of shifting tax payer money to the top 1% in the name of „ public safety“. Empty prisons means no income for this operators that work on a profit. How ethnically sickening to use prisons for a profit.

Read the link above. About the 7 yr found dead by his bus driver from a hit and run while waiting. How horrible!!

 

[Klayfish]

I thought about this thread today on my way home.

How many times do any of us drive our everyday route and are thinking about cooking dinner, what’s going on that night, something from work or whatever and really are distracted.

It doesn’t take a cell phone, a crying kid, or anything in the vehicle to be distracted. Sometimes it’s just our own minds.

Yes, exactly. That's why I was jumping in from the beginning and saying let's not crucify this young driver. She made a horrible, horrendous mistake. But it can happen to very good people, and sadly it does. Again, doesn't make it right, OK, "justified", or anything...but it also doesn't make her a horrible monster that deserves a horrible fate.

 

[jenmsmith]

I know the driver of the pick up. I’ve driven that exact road many times when I worked in the school system the students attended. This was a horrible tragedy.

I wasn’t in the truck with the driver and have not talked to her personally since the accident. So I don’t know any more about the particulars of that tragic morning than what has been officially reported.

What I do know is how someone can not realize it’s a school bus until it’s too late. We have grain trucks and trash trucks all lit about the same as the school bus. Just in the last week I’ve been wrong about what I see up ahead in the dark early hours several times (usually it’s thinking a grain truck was a bus, but it is obvious to me how the reverse could be true). I’ve slowed down (which the driver behind Alyssa told detectives that she did slow down), but not made an abrupt stop on a highway.

I realize that people who don’t live in rural districts wouldn’t know that. And this particular district is very rural, which means it covers many square miles.

This was a horrible perfect storm of many factors that sadly led to the death of three children and another’s life changed. Please pray for all involved. Every single person from the children’s families to the bus driver to the other students to first responders to the driver and her family need them.

 

[katie01]

I know the driver of the pick up. I’ve driven that exact road many times when I worked in the school system the students attended. This was a horrible tragedy.

I wasn’t in the truck with the driver and have not talked to her personally since the accident. So I don’t know any more about the particulars of that tragic morning than what has been officially reported.

What I do know is how someone can not realize it’s a school bus until it’s too late. We have grain trucks and trash trucks all lit about the same as the school bus. Just in the last week I’ve been wrong about what I see up ahead in the dark early hours several times (usually it’s thinking a grain truck was a bus, but it is obvious to me how the reverse could be true). I’ve slowed down (which the driver behind Alyssa told detectives that she did slow down), but not made an abrupt stop on a highway.

I realize that people who don’t live in rural districts wouldn’t know that. And this particular district is very rural, which means it covers many square miles.

This was a horrible perfect storm of many factors that sadly led to the death of three children and another’s life changed. Please pray for all involved. Every single person from the children’s families to the bus driver to the other students to first responders to the driver and her family need them.

thank you for sharing. I will most definitely continue to pray for all involved. It is horrific to even think about how much all involved are suffering

 

[anniemae]

It would have been so easy to have the bus pick up inside the community. I will never understand why they thought it was a good idea to have a bus stop on a busy highway and have kids cross the road to get to the bus. If the bus pulled into the park community to pick up the kids it would have been so much safer.

 

[kimblebee]

It would have been so easy to have the bus pick up inside the community. I will never understand why they thought it was a good idea to have a bus stop on a busy highway and have kids cross the road to get to the bus. If the bus pulled into the park community to pick up the kids it would have been so much safer.

Unfortunately, hindsight is always 20/20.

 

[anniemae]

Unfortunately, hindsight is always 20/20.

So true. It just seems like somebody would have said, "this isn't such a great idea having the bus stop on a highway." It just makes me so sad that it takes this tragedy for people to wake up and say, "yeah, that was wrong the way to do that." I guess it's human nature to have the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" way of thinking.

 

[Skellingtonj]

I don’t get why everyone is calling it “a perfect storm”. She killed 3 children because she didn’t stop. That’s it. No storm, no weather nothing. She didn’t stop because she didn’t realize it was a school bus. Because the flashing lights didn’t give her pause to slow down.

 

[mousefan73]

She murdered 3 children because she broke the law. She deserves to rot in jail.

Google here is your friend. Look up murder vs manslaughter. IMO a huge difference betwen a pedi that stalks and kills kids vs a mother who is distracted (note: assuming) and makes a mistake ? so we as tax payers should now pay for her room amd board amd most likely her kids's? Who pays and raises these kids, the state? Or do you also believe in an eye for an eye? So should we put her in front of a firing squad?

 

[PollyannaMom]

Right on the heals of this is another tragedy - I just heard this morning that 3 Girl Scouts and an adult were hit and killed:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/News/girl...ighway-trash-killed-alleged/story?id=58951893


The end of the article summarizes all the recent incidents:

The incident comes at the end of a particularly deadly week for children hit by cars.

In the deadliest crash, three siblings died when they were hit by a pickup truck while boarding a bus in Rochester, Indiana, on Tuesday. A 9-year-old was struck and killed while crossing the street to board a bus in northern Mississippi on Wednesday, and a second-grader in Pennsylvania was killed when struck by a vehicle at a bus stop on Thursday.

Five children and two adults were struck by a car at a bus stop in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday as well, though none of the injuries were considering life-threatening.

 

[mjkacmom]

I don’t get why everyone is calling it “a perfect storm”. She killed 3 children because she didn’t stop. That’s it. No storm, no weather nothing. She didn’t stop because she didn’t realize it was a school bus. Because the flashing lights didn’t give her pause to slow down.

The person who called it that is a member of the community and seems to understand how this accident could’ve occurred. We had a pedestrian death here that went unsolved for weeks, hit and run. It turns out a woman entered a busy intersection between two parked vehicles, and was struck by the mirror of a large truck. When they finally tracked down the driver, it was apparent he had no idea he killed someone. In the meantime, residents were out for blood with their pitchforks.

 

[wenrob]

I don’t get why everyone is calling it “a perfect storm”. She killed 3 children because she didn’t stop. That’s it. No storm, no weather nothing. She didn’t stop because she didn’t realize it was a school bus. Because the flashing lights didn’t give her pause to slow down.

So you think the county who had grade school kids crossing a highway in the dark has no culpability in this? How about the bus driver who waved them across in front an approaching vehicle? Add in a woman not on her normal route and yeah, perfect storm. The world is not black and white and neither is this. Absolutely she should have slowed/come to a stop but there never should have been kids crossing in front of her in the first place.

 

[luvsJack]

I don’t get why everyone is calling it “a perfect storm”. She killed 3 children because she didn’t stop. That’s it. No storm, no weather nothing. She didn’t stop because she didn’t realize it was a school bus. Because the flashing lights didn’t give her pause to slow down.

If you will read the pp’s post, she did slow down. And that was backed by a witness.

 

[katie01]

Right on the heals of this is another tragedy - I just heard this morning that 3 Girl Scouts and an adult were hit and killed:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/News/girl...ighway-trash-killed-alleged/story?id=58951893


The end of the article summarizes all the recent incidents:

The incident comes at the end of a particularly deadly week for children hit by cars.

In the deadliest crash, three siblings died when they were hit by a pickup truck while boarding a bus in Rochester, Indiana, on Tuesday. A 9-year-old was struck and killed while crossing the street to board a bus in northern Mississippi on Wednesday, and a second-grader in Pennsylvania was killed when struck by a vehicle at a bus stop on Thursday.

Five children and two adults were struck by a car at a bus stop in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday as well, though none of the injuries were considering life-threatening.

I saw this too. I've never liked the idea of kids doing trash pick up at the sides of roadways. There are things that are worth giving one's life to, but picking up other people's trash isn't it, especially not when kids are doing it.

 

[kaddjr]

What I do know is how someone can not realize it’s a school bus until it’s too late. We have grain trucks and trash trucks all lit about the same as the school bus. Just in the last week I’ve been wrong about what I see up ahead in the dark early hours several times (usually it’s thinking a grain truck was a bus, but it is obvious to me how the reverse could be true). I’ve slowed down (which the driver behind Alyssa told detectives that she did slow down), but not made an abrupt stop on a highway.

I realize that people who don’t live in rural districts wouldn’t know that. And this particular district is very rural, which means it covers many square miles.

This was a horrible perfect storm of many factors that sadly led to the death of three children and another’s life changed. Please pray for all involved. Every single person from the children’s families to the bus driver to the other students to first responders to the driver and her family need them.

You are absolutely right. I live in northern Miami county. Our district is literally located right in the middle of corn fields- can't get more rural than that! It can be VERY dark late at night/early morning and it can be very hard to tell what is ahead until you are right up on it. I too have thought I was approaching a bus when it was a grain truck/trash truck.

So you think the county who had grade school kids crossing a highway in the dark has no culpability in this? How about the bus driver who waved them across in front an approaching vehicle? Add in a woman not on her normal route and yeah, perfect storm. The world is not black and white and neither is this. Absolutely she should have slowed/come to a stop but there never should have been kids crossing in front of her in the first place.

I agree with you 100%. I am not certain of this (maybe jenmsmith might know) but I *think* the school district is responsible for the making of the bus routes. I know ours is and we are only about 15 mins away. If there were concerns expressed to the school about this particular bus stop and they did nothing about it when it seems there was a simple solution to resolve the matter, then that school, imo, should be held responsible too. And that bus driver had no business waving those children across that highway until oncoming traffic had stopped.

I am not saying Alyssa isn't responsible for this tragic accident- she is. However, as wenrob said there never should have been kids crossing in front of her in the first place. My heart breaks for all involved. I just don't think we should be so quick to judge when we don't know all of the facts.

 

[wenrob]

You are absolutely right. I live in northern Miami county. Our district is literally located right in the middle of corn fields- can't get more rural than that! It can be VERY dark late at night/early morning and it can be very hard to tell what is ahead until you are right up on it. I too have thought I was approaching a bus when it was a grain truck/trash truck.




I agree with you 100%. I am not certain of this (maybe jenmsmith might know) but I *think* the school district is responsible for the making of the bus routes. I know ours is and we are only about 15 mins away. If there were concerns expressed to the school about this particular bus stop and they did nothing about it when it seems there was a simple solution to resolve the matter, then that school, imo, should be held responsible too. And that bus driver had no business waving those children across that highway until oncoming traffic had stopped.

I am not saying Alyssa isn't responsible for this tragic accident- she is. However, as wenrob said there never should have been kids crossing in front of her in the first place. My heart breaks for all involved. I just don't think we should be so quick to judge when we don't know all of the facts.

I’m not a 100% certain but I would think the school district would have to get some type of approval from the county to put the stop there. Then you have to factor in if there’s a transportation department etc. A whole slew of people decided that was the place to put that stop. The question would be which entity ultimately decided the highway was the best option. I’m not a sue happy type of person but if I were the parent here I’d be going after them all to get to the bottom of it.

 

[ronandannette]

Right on the heals of this is another tragedy - I just heard this morning that 3 Girl Scouts and an adult were hit and killed:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/News/girl...ighway-trash-killed-alleged/story?id=58951893


The end of the article summarizes all the recent incidents:

The incident comes at the end of a particularly deadly week for children hit by cars.

In the deadliest crash, three siblings died when they were hit by a pickup truck while boarding a bus in Rochester, Indiana, on Tuesday. A 9-year-old was struck and killed while crossing the street to board a bus in northern Mississippi on Wednesday, and a second-grader in Pennsylvania was killed when struck by a vehicle at a bus stop on Thursday.

Five children and two adults were struck by a car at a bus stop in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday as well, though none of the injuries were considering life-threatening.

Which are all good reasons why whatever sentencing is imposed in these incidents has at least some measure of deterrent effect. Tragic accidents can be reduced by drivers taking an entirely different level of caution. A pp's suggestion upthread about a speaking tour simply doesn't satisfy.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Which are all good reasons why whatever sentencing is imposed in these incidents has at least some measure of deterrent effect. Tragic accidents can be reduced by drivers taking an entirely different level of caution. A pp's suggestion upthread about a speaking tour simply doesn't satisfy.

I'm not completely opposed to a harsh sentence in these cases - if that's what happens, it might bring some sort of closure to the families. But I honestly think the solution is more about education than deterrent. - If you asked 100 people which would make them feel worse, killing three kids or going to jail, I'm pretty sure most of them would say killing three kids. So it's not that they didn't care what might happen because the penalties weren't serious enough. It's that they didn't believe it would happen at all. Making the drivers share their stories (purposely reliving it day after day) will most certainly punish them - but it also might convince the next person to take those flashing lights seriously.

 

[kaddjr]

I’m not a 100% certain but I would think the school district would have to get some type of approval from the county to put the stop there. Then you have to factor in if there’s a transportation department etc. A whole slew of people decided that was the place to put that stop. The question would be which entity ultimately decided the highway was the best option. I’m not a sue happy type of person but if I were the parent here I’d be going after them all to get to the bottom of it.

I'm not sure about the district having to get approval in our county or Fulton county, where the accident happened. I know the head of our district's transportation, I could ask. Most schools here don't contract out transportation. They purchase the buses and hire and train the drivers. And I know they make the routes. Our district cut two routes this year due to funding and enrollment. We have a friend who drove for our district and she gave up her route because she had a second job that let her go full time. However, I don't know if they have to get permission to set the bus stops. I do agree with you, though. If it were me, I would want to know who decided on the placement of that stop and they would be included in any lawsuit I might pursue.