A Buddy Taylor 8th grader was struck and injured by a Flagler County school bus this morning on Parkview Drive, within sight of Wadsworth Elementary school, officials said. The stduent was treated for minor injuries at Florida Hospital Flagler, and by just after noon, had been released.
“He was transported to the hospital this morning for precautionary measures at the scene he was able to stand on his own and talk,” Superintendent Jacob Oliva said.
The student was riding his bike in the crosswalk in front of Belle Terre Park, along Parkview Drive, just after 7 this morning, when bus 2014 collided with the student. The sheriff’s office got the call at 7:05. By 7:08, it had confirmed that the student, who was taken into the bus after the crash, was not injured, according to dispatch notes. The bicycle was under the bus after the crash. The bus-accident team was paged at 7:19.
“There were students on the bus, they were on their way to Buddy Taylor to be dropped off,” Oliva said, “so we had counselors available on stand by in case students were upset, but the response to that was pretty minimal.”
The driver of the bus, Ronald Schmidli, 69, was at fault for the collision: he was cited for failing to yield in a crosswalk, and has been placed on administrative leave pending the conclusion of an internal investigation. When school bus drivers are involved in any infractions, including running a stop sign or a red light, their actions are subject to review by a district safety review panel made up of union personnel and administrators, “and they have basically a point system, so certain incidents you have accumulate a certain points, and if you have so many points you can’t drive,” Oliva said.
The panel is called the Accident Review Committee.
Schmidli has been driving for the district just since April 17, but had been a school bus driver for two years before that, and was a heavy equipment vehicle transporter for eight years, Oliva said.
The district’s response team was immediately activated following the incident, with school administrators at the scene quickly. It was new Transportation Director Larry Nelson’s first encounter with a serious incident since he fully took over the department from Winnie Oden earlier this month. The district does a lot of training for such incidents, Oliva said, so when they take place, everyone is prepared to react as trained. “We’re doing well,” he said.
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the accident.
bustermom says
Thank goodness the student is okay. The roads are busy in the morning. Everyone needs to be more aware.
pissed parent says
this is the exact example why our kids shouldn’t have to walk/bike to school. If busses were provided to all the school aged kids maybe they wouldn’t be in as much danger! I’m not saying accidents can’t happen but the idea that this kid could’ve died should be an eye opener for the state/county to provide transportation to ALL kids!!!! The state doesn’t want to pay the counties for children who live within a mile for elementary & two miles for middle & high school. No child should have to walk in the dark at times in streets with no sidewalks!!! Thank God this kid is ok!!!! Parents we should fight for our kids safety!!!!! what is it going to take a little kid dead before the state/county decides our children should be on a bus not walking or riding a bike just to get hit!!!! Looks like we could trim the budget elsewhere not at the expense of our children!!!!
Family friend says
After this, he should be fired, why is it that he failed to stop at a yield sign, rediculous I , he should not be allowed to drive a school bus anymore, I am a grandmother of four, I would rather get up and drive my kids to school, then have people driving that can’t follow the law, sad someone got hurt, because of stupidity, thank god it wasn’t more kids
Beth Rizk says
i feel bad for Coby. we weren’t best friends but he iss a nice guy. seeing this happen was horrible and i hope he recovers soon.
john says
what about thr crossing guards on that corner
Michael says
No need to drive a bus to judge, he disobeyed a traffic law and struck a pedestrian, he is supposed to be a professional CDL driver. He more than likely has a bad habit of rolling stop signs, I watch bus drivers all the time, turning off one road onto another in the improper lane. Most are in a rush and cut corners on safety, just watch the following distance of these busses as they caravan out of school lots and on their way back to the yard, less then 1-2 seconds of following distance at 20 plus MPH. At these type of distances the air brakes do not even fill the chambers (filling chambers take 0.5 seconds, called air brake lag time) to try and stop the bus before it has struck the other in the rear. Safety is not optional, if you do not want to be safe hand in your CDL and find a new profession, the FCSB really needs to do a better job of safety observations on their drivers, or hire a third party to film them out on the road to correct these behaviors.
Anonymous says
They dont have them there
Friend of colby says
Ik, at least he’s okay!
jadobi says
It was a right turn, there is no Yield sign. Its called an accident for a reason. There are a lot of blind spots in larger vehicles, that I would assume played a part in this crash. And you spelled ridiculous wrong.
ohrin says
kids don’t respect cars. I walked to school along with 40 other kids in my grade school days and never once did anyone get hit by a car, WHY? BECAUSE WE WERE TAUGHT TO GET OUT OF THE ROAD WHEN WE HEAR AND OR SEE A CAR/VEHICLE COMING. THESE KIDS THESE THESE DAYS ARE DUMB AND NON- CHALANT AND DON’T CARE AND THINK THAT EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE REVOLVE AROUND THEM. YOUNG PEOPLE……….LOOK, LISTEN, AND LEARN!!!!!! GET WELL SOON YOUNG FELLOW. this is nothing personal, it’s my opinion and observation from driving these pc roads for over 20 years now.
Skyler P Scott says
I agree with u.