A driver struck a fourth-grade student who had just stepped off of a school bus in Montgomery County, Maryland, seriously injuring the girl, authorities say.
Just before 4 p.m. Tuesday, the bus pulled up on Walkers Choice Road in Montgomery Village. Witnesses on the bus said the girl looked both ways when she got off the bus. Then, suddenly, the driver of a Saturn sedan darted out from behind the bus and hit her in the middle of the road, according to witnesses.
The girl suffered serious injuries and was still recovering on Thursday, school officials said.
“As I understand it, her injuries are serious but non-life-threatening. A couple of broken bones, a broken clavicle, lots of bruises, but, again, non-life threatening," said Chris Cram, the director of the Montgomery County Public Schools Department of Communications.
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Police said the red lights on the bus were flashing while it was stopped.
The 41-year-old driver stayed at the scene, police said.
Charges against the driver are pending, the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office said.
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“Several students on the bus and the bus driver witnessed the accident and this morning we have had mental health and wellness resources at the school," Walker Mill Elementary School Principal Brooke Simon said in a letter to parents.
“When they see a friend get hit — when a driver who is responsible for all those children, they see one of their little children get hit — it has impact. So we brought in counselors. We brought in psychologists. We had therapy dogs there the next morning," Cram said.
A day before the crash, the Montgomery County Police Department shared a video on social media reminding drivers to stop for buses now that students are back in school.
"Please remember that flashing yellow lights means the bus is preparing to stop to pick up or drop off children," Police Chief Marcus Jones says in the video.
All Montgomery County school buses are equipped with cameras.
Police say they issued more than 36,000 bus camera citations to drivers in 2021. So far this year, police have issued more than 32,000 citations.
