"RIVERVIEW --
A 3-year-old child died Tuesday morning after injuries suffered when she was struck by a vehicle in a Riverview neighborhood.

According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, the girl was struck on Hampton Meadow Way and Legacy Bright Street just before 7:30 a.m. as the child and her mother were walking the family dog.

Deputies said the girl darted into the street unexpectedly as a pickup truck was driving down the street. Authorities said the driver of the truck was not speeding and did not see the small child.

The driver told authorities he heard something and when he looked back, saw that he had struck the child, who was lying in the road.

Officials said the mother rushed to the child and then drove her to St. Joseph's Hospital South. She was later pronounced dead from her injuries.

The crash remains under investigation.

"You put yourself in those positions and there are people with children," said Cristal Nunez with the Sheriff's Office. "And at the end of the day even if you don't have children you're human.

"There's a child that is now gone and it was just something that occurred in a split second."
http://www.baynews9.com/conten..._struck_by_vehi.html

We tend to take driving for granted, especially if we only go to work or other places on fixed routes, but let this be a lesson to always drive in Condition Yellow. Something like that can happen in an instant. I don't know what I'd do if I'd been the one who hit the child.

terrible for all parties involved; mother, driver, responding officers, ER doc's. That's my worst nightmare as someone who drives a LOT, and as someone whos about to start having kids.

Every day I drive by an elementary school on the way home. The school does some sort of after-hours care, parents park on the street when picking the younglings up. Speed limit is 25 mph "When Children Are Present" and I tend to do 15 when there's vehicles there and parents are picking up kids.

Inevitably there's some moron (young, old, male, female, white, brown, black, doesn't seem to matter) who will ride up on my ass and get pissed I'm not doing 30 or 35 when children are present.

I slow down to 10 when they throw up their hands in disgust, I slow down a bit more.

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Every day I drive by an elementary school on the way home. The school does some sort of after-hours care, parents park on the street when picking the younglings up. Speed limit is 25 mph "When Children Are Present" and I tend to do 15 when there's vehicles there and parents are picking up kids.

Inevitably there's some moron (young, old, male, female, white, brown, black, doesn't seem to matter) who will ride up on my ass and get pissed I'm not doing 30 or 35 when children are present.

I slow down to 10 when they throw up their hands in disgust, I slow down a bit more.

People are fucking morons. I'm a school bus driver and last week we started back to school, on my first stop, I had a jackass speed ***SPEED*** by my bus, stop arm out, lights flashing and kids out, including kindergarteners.

Think people, that little guy could have darted out into the street, then what?

I and ever other bus driver see it all too often. The first day of school I had two jackasses speed by my bus.

It really bothers me that people just don't seem to give a fuck. We are dealing with children's lives. Kids are unpredictable. Even the older ones, most of them don't even look, not at me directing them or the traffic.

No matter how much I fuss, it seems like most don't listen to me about this.

Prayers for the departed child, the child's family, the officer and hospital staff.


Please, drive safe!


ARman

very sad accident

Prayers to all those involved. Tragic and sad.

Police work is tragic for sure.

quote:

Originally posted by ARman:

People are fucking morons. I'm a school bus driver and last week we started back to school, on my first stop, I had a jackass speed ***SPEED*** by my bus, stop arm out, lights flashing and kids out, including kindergarteners.

Think people, that little guy could have darted out into the street, then what?
ARman

I assume you take their plate #'s and what not down, right? I'd imagine the police don't take that stuff lightly?

One thing I always tend to do when I see people/especially kids or with kids walking I tend to either gently veer away from them or if possible give a wide birth around.

My thinking is if they do end up in the street I am already ready to veer away or have already preemptively done so. I also figure if for some reason something happens to me or the car my trajectory puts me away from the humans.

I figure I would much rather hit a car where we are both armored up if you will then hit a person.

These kid stories always hit home. Prayers for all.

It's obvious how the family feels but imagine how destroyed that driver feels. For all intents and purposes you are doing every right and responsibly and through no fault of your own you hit and kill somebody, much more a child. How do you deal with that.

quote:

Originally posted by cslinger:
One thing I always tend to do when I see people/especially kids or with kids walking I tend to either gently veer away from them or if possible give a wide birth around.

My thinking is if they do end up in the street I am already ready to veer away or have already preemptively done so. I also figure if for some reason something happens to me or the car my trajectory puts me away from the humans.

I figure I would much rather hit a car where we are both armored up if you will then hit a person.

I do this, and cover the brake as well.

quote:

Originally posted by ARman:


People are fucking morons. I'm a school bus driver and last week we started back to school, on my first stop, I had a jackass speed ***SPEED*** by my bus, stop arm out, lights flashing and kids out, including kindergarteners.

Think people, that little guy could have darted out into the street, then what?

I and ever other bus driver see it all too often. The first day of school I had two jackasses speed by my bus.

It really bothers me that people just don't seem to give a fuck. We are dealing with children's lives. Kids are unpredictable. Even the older ones, most of them don't even look, not at me directing them or the traffic.

No matter how much I fuss, it seems like most don't listen to me about this.

Prayers for the departed child, the child's family, the officer and hospital staff.


Please, drive safe!


ARman

I think what needs to be standard equipment on every school bus are a couple license plate reader cameras that catch these speeding assholes and they get huge fines and possibly some jail time.

Between the two campuses that make up where I work is a school zone and when I'm traveling from one campus to the other and the 15 mph sign is lit, there's ALWAYS at least one oblivious moron FLYING through there at 40-50 mph, it's unbelievable to me!

Christ, that's rough. That poor mother and the rest of the family. I just can't imagine the grief they must feel.

My daughter is a dispatcher for airborne ambulances. Some days are bad like this.

quote:

Originally posted by cmr076:

quote:

Originally posted by ARman:

People are fucking morons. I'm a school bus driver and last week we started back to school, on my first stop, I had a jackass speed ***SPEED*** by my bus, stop arm out, lights flashing and kids out, including kindergarteners.

Think people, that little guy could have darted out into the street, then what?
ARman

I assume you take their plate #'s and what not down, right? I'd imagine the police don't take that stuff lightly?

I didn't get ether one of these assholes, the first one it was dark and he was moving way to fast. I did see the driver, heavy weight white male, 40's in a silver Jeep Liberty. I have looked for him every day though.

Second one was a even heaver white male, late 40's in a light blue Ford Crown Vic., he was moving at almost light speed, at least 75 MPH in a 55 zone. I also did get his number, moving to fast.

In the past I have turned in the information, we have a form for this. Nothing was done.

The most egregious one, one that pissed me off was last year. I was doing a preschool route.


I was in a neighborhood, stopped at a house. As the little guy was running around hugging his dog, mom and dad a lady backs out of her driveway about a block away on the opposite side of the street.

I'm sitting there stopped with stop arm out lights blinking and watching my kiddo. The lady slow creeps down the street, as my little guy is putting his first foot in the bottom step she speeds up to about 30 MPH in a 25 zone I honk my horn but she zooms by.

I get her plate number, description of driver mid 30's Asian woman, make, model and color of vehicle, Name (provided by kiddos dad), and home address. I fill out the paperwork and turned it in. Nothing, not a damn thing. The law didn't even go to her house and talk to her. NADA, zilch, nothing.

The only time I have seen anything happen is the three times it happened in front of the police (in one occurrence) and a Sheriff's deputy in (two in a row, speeding in school parking lot, with my stop arm out lights flashing).

Some of our buses have stop arm cameras, one looking forward, one backwards and one looks straight at the driver. So far nothing with those buses also.

In the future all of our school buses will be equipped with the stop arm camera systems. It's just getting the county to prosecute these assholes!

I live in a small county, mostly rural. Yet people disregard the stop arm and lights all of the time.


ARman

I live at the front of my neighbor hood. I'm contemplating getting some spike strips.

One of the major reasons I stopped working as a paramedic right there. Especially once we had our little girl. I personalized every incident, it was making me a basket case.

Around here the police do give a shit, thankfully. When a plate # is caught, they get a visit and a fat ticket.

quote:

Originally posted by wreckdiver:
Around here the police do give a shit, thankfully. When a plate # is caught, they get a visit and a fat ticket.

Here too...

Last year the neighbor's older brother blew by the bus his sisters ride on..not once but TWICE in the same neighborhood...

Trooper drove thru a few hours later...I waved him down and told him where to go find the driver. Trooper hooked up the teen up for the program...had to call his mommy to come get him outta jail. He got two separate charges .

Here in NC it is the most expensive fine and adds the most points to your license....