A young boy was killed by a JCPS Bus, earlier today.  The bus was on Westport Road.  It appears that the boy may have tried to exit the bus before it came to a stop.  Tragically the child was pronounced dead.

Details are still coming out and an investigation is underway.  These types of accidents should be avoidable.  There will be questions about:

• Why did the boy exit the bus?
• How did he leave?
• Did someone try to restrain him?
• Was the driver distracted?
• Should the driver have seen the boy?
• How quickly did the bus driver react?
• Was the driver under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol?

Our firm has handles cases against JCPS.  We also handled the case involving a child who passed away in a day care van.  These are both complicated and highly emotional cases.  A child has either been injured or, as in this case, died.  No parent wants to be confronted by the possibility of this happening to their child.

We’ve heard stories for years about injuries on buses.  This included school buses and other types of public transportation (e.g. TARC).  Most of the drivers are caring, compassionate people who are trying to do a good job for students and their families in our community.

In this case, a student was killed by a JCPS bus.  Safety protocols are in place to protect our young students.  When those guidelines are violated, bus drivers should be held accountable.  However, there is a chance that the student made a bad decision, which eventually cost him his life.  The truth is there, somewhere.  The authorities will perform a thorough investigation and we’ll have a chance to review the findings.

As a mother of five children, Kirsten Daniel can only imagine the pain the parents of this child are experiencing.  No parent ever wants to receive the phone call this family did today.  It’s another tragedy for our community.