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Girl killed on busy street after school bus dropoff

The fourth-grader is hit by a sport utility vehicle as she tries to cross a five-lane street during rush hour.

By LAUREN BAYNE ANDERSON and CHRIS TISCH
Published February 12, 2005

[Times photo: Lara Cerri]

Police stand at the scene where an 8-year-old was hit in traffic. It was not clear if school district rules were violated by the substitute bus driver.

ST. PETERSBURG - An 8-year-old girl who had just been dropped at her school bus stop was struck and killed by an SUV in rush-hour traffic Friday as she tried to cross a five-lane road.

Police said the girl, a fourth-grader, was heading to her home when the accident occurred. School officials could not confirm that late Friday.

Her death comes just four months after another student was killed while crossing a six-lane highway in Clearwater.

That incident exposed serious problems in the Pinellas school district's transportation department, which led new superintendent Clayton Wilcox to recommend firings, suspensions and a major overhaul of the department.

The accident Friday occurred just before 5 p.m. in the 9000 block of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street. The girl, who police and school officials did not identify, was the last student to get off the bus.

Police said the girl, who attended James B. Sanderlin Elementary School, exited the bus while it faced west on 90th Avenue N. She crossed 90th Avenue in front of the bus, then darted across King Street. When she reached the middle of the street, the driver of one car saw her and slowed down. But the slowing car blocked the view of Geoffrey M. Yee, 18, who did not see the child.

The front of his green Ford Explorer struck the girl. The impact tore one of the girl's sneakers off and threw her to the side of the road.

"I heard tires squealing and then impact," said Shauna Moye, who lives across from the crash site. "I thought two cars had hit each other. But I ran out and saw a little girl laying in the grass."

The girl was taken by ambulance to Bayfront Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 8:15 p.m.

Police spokesman Bill Proffitt said the girl was headed to her home when she crossed the street. Schools spokesman Ron Stone said he assumed the girl was crossing to get to her house, but couldn't confirm that late Friday.

If the girl lived across King Street, the dropoff may have been a violation of a district policy that forbids youngsters from being forced to cross roads of four lanes or more.

Stone could not confirm Friday if the dropoff violated district rules.

School officials said the bus driver, 75-year-old William Ralston, was a substitute driver who never had driven that route before. Stone said Ralston has driven for the district about two years and has no previous incidents on his record.

Ralston, of Pinellas Park, could not be reached for comment Friday night.

Ralston's driving record shows he has not received a traffic citation since 1991.

District transportation director Terry Palmer said the department has had trouble hiring drivers recently.

The problem has been compounded by many drivers calling in sick with seasonal colds or the flu. The problem has caused some routes to be delayed, he said.

"It's just been very challenging to get all the routes covered," Palmer said.

Palmer said the district also employs drivers who are Ralston's age. He said all drivers have to pass physical and dexterity tests and complete in-service training. School officials said an investigation into the crash is under way.

That investigation likely will determine whether Ralston simply erred by dropping the girl on the wrong side of the street, or if the bus stop itself violated district policy by forcing children to cross a five-lane road.

Transportation officials identified nearly 300 bus stops that violated district policy after the October death of 16-year-old Rebecca McKinney. She was forced to cross six lanes of busy McMullen-Booth Road to get home from her bus stop. Her mother said she complained, but was blown off by school officials.

District policy forbids students from crossing four lanes or more from a bus stop. Stone said transportation officials tried to remedy those violations after McKinney's death.

He couldn't say for certain if the district had changed this particular route.

Parents in the area said school buses have dropped children off on MLK in the past, forcing some of the children to cross the busy street.

"So my child would have to cross all those lanes," said Laura Henley, who changed bus stops for her two bus-riding children, ages 5 and 7, because of that danger. "That's why I would refuse to do that. That's too dangerous. No kid should have to cross that street."

She didn't know if the buses have continued to stop on King Street.

"Whether they're stopping on 90th or MLK doesn't make a difference if the child lives on the other side of the road," she added. "Because the child still has to cross the street."

Wilcox, who was at the hospital Friday night, said he plans to meet with staff members this morning to discuss the accident, but declined to speak much more about the facts of the crash.

"For us right now, our prayers and thoughts are really kind of with the family right now," he said. "I think it would be inappropriate for us to talk about all the things that may or may not have happened."

Yee, the driver whose SUV hit the girl, does not have any citations on his driving record.

A witness said Yee exited his SUV after the crash and "was freaking out and holding his head ... pacing back and forth saying "Oh my God."'

His mother, Tamara Yee, said her son was not speeding. Police also said they do not suspect speed was a factor.

"He's not doing too well," Tamara Yee said. "He's upset."

[Last modified February 12, 2005, 00:25:13]