ibeachalot's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Local Tragedy A little girl in our school district was killed yesterday while trying to board her school bus. It happened only a few miles from here. She was the same age as Evan. I am in total shock. I first learned about this yesterday morning, when one of the moms in my St. Louis moms group e~mailed us about it. Her son goes to the same school as the little girl killed. I'm so grateful my kids board the bus at the end of the driveway and don't have to cross the street. You can read the story here. I hate to place blame, because it won't bring this little girl back, but A) why the hell didn't the bus driver have the stop arm out? Logic tells you that when a child sees the bus stopped, she's going to assume it's safe to board and B) the guy driving the truck has to assume that if there's a stopped school bus, there's likely a child nearby, whether or not the stop arm is out. I realize that both the girl's mother and the bus driver were motioning for the girl to wait, but she was seven years old, for Chrissake. You can't assume she will have the presence of mind to notice the stop arm isn't out. All she knows is that the bus in stopped, waiting for her. This is so tragic. I feel so sorry for everyone concerned. It hits too close to home that she was Evan's age. Please hug your kids a little more closely today and if they ride a school bus, hand carry them to the bus door. You can't assume they're safe to board alone. More later... 9:14 a.m. - 2003-05-06 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
||||||
|
||||||