A third school bus stop accident in central North Carolina within a two-week period has left a brother and sister in the town of Wilson badly injured. This latest wreck, a hit-and-run involving an SUV, occurred on Rock Ridge Sims Road just before 7 am on October 2, 2014. Police later found the at-fault driver and charged him with several felonies, including fleeing the scene of an accident that resulted in injuries and failing to stop for a bus that was boarding children.
The accident follows a fatal crash in Cary, NC, in mid-September that claimed the life a middle school student and a Sept. 30 collision in Apex, NC, that left an 11-year-old boy with a broken leg, a shattered pelvis and head injuries. The victims of the Wilson wreck were a 10-year-old elementary school student and his 5-year-old sister. The excuses used by the first two at-fault drivers were that they never saw the kids they hit. No proposed explanation for the most-recent incident was reported.
In addition to being immaterial, the defense that the drivers were not aware they were illegally passing stopped buses and risking youngsters’ lives are difficult to believe. In each case, the buses had their stop sign arms extended and their warning lights switched on. Every driver needs to know that they must yield right of way to pedestrians and stop for school buses in order to qualify for a driver’s license. Recognizing all these things, it seems difficult to conclude that the drivers who injured and killed the children in the three accidents were anything other than negligent, inattentive or reckless.
Holding the at-fault drivers financially accountable for they harm they caused may prove difficult, especially in the cases where the people behind the wheel fled. Hit-and-run drivers often lack adequate insurance, meaning that working closely with an experienced North Carolina personal injury lawyer could be beneficial for the affected parents.
EJL