Personal Injury Attorney

Seven-year-old Skyla Shirriel started her day by heading off to school but ended it in a medically-induced coma.

The young girl from Charles County, Maryland, was getting off the school bus after school when a pickup truck drove past it and slammed into her. At the time, the bus had its stop sign with flashing lights out, reports the Miami Herald (https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article222356400.html).

Mike Wathen, a close neighbor of the Shirriels, told local news that the young girl had to be put into a coma because of her injuries. He added that his three young boys were also at the bus stop at the time and are still struggling with what they saw.

The bus was taking children from T.C. Martin Elementary at the time. Skyla had to be airlifted to a local hospital at the accident, and the Associated Press has since reported that an unidentified 53-year-old had a panic attack at the scene and was also hospitalized. The suspect in the crash stayed at the scene and was there when authorities arrived but has not been identified yet.

The disturbing string of bus tragedies

This accident is just another example of the danger children face when they are getting on or off their school bus. A video released in September showed a driver in Missouri speed over a lawn and sidewalk to get around a school bus that was stopped with its signs out. Police arrested the driver in that case – who said he was fleeing an accident scene at the time – after he was identified, and he was charged with several offenses.

Luckily, no one was harmed in that incident, but there have been deadly incidents involving stopped school buses regularly popping up in the news. Back in October, Alyssa Shepherd struck four children waiting at a bus stop in Indiana, killing three of them and seriously injuring the fourth. All three children who died in that crash were siblings.

During a hearing in that case, Detective Michelle Jumper of the Indiana State Police described what she heard from those involved in the crash and witnesses. According to Jumper, Shepherd said she had three children in her car and had dropped her husband off at his job right before the crash, something she normally doesn’t do. Shepherd said she did see the school bus lights on the road but did not realize the stopped vehicle was a school bus until it was too late. This statement has been challenged by some witnesses who said the bus was clearly visible, but the case is still ongoing.

It is incidents like Shepherd’s and Skyla’s that prompted Maryland bus driver Joselyn Brown to speak to the media after this newest incident. She urged drivers to be extra cautious around school buses and asked them to stop whenever they see yellow lights because it could be someone’s child.

When people drive recklessly, they can cause serious injury and even death. Speak to an auto accident lawyer Denver, CO trusts if you have been the victim of a reckless driver.

Thank you to our friends and contributors at Richard J. Banta, P.C. for their insight into personal injury and car accident claims.