Cedar Hill, MO — A young girl was critically injured earlier this summer after she was accidentally hit by a school bus outside her home in Cedar Hill. The girl is 7-year old Paige Breckle and the accident happened on Thursday, June 25, 2015.
Not much is known about what happened, but we do know that it appears Paige was getting off the bus and walking toward her house that afternoon when the bus pulled forward and ran over her.
According to Paige’s brother, Justin, who witnessed the accident, the school bus has a yellow, extendable arm on the side of the vehicle that prevents children from walking into the bus’s path. However, that arm was not extended when Paige got off the bus.
The bus driver didn’t actually realize anything was wrong and did not stop.
Paige was taken to a hospital with very serious injuries and continues to require a good deal of medical care and attention.
A GoFundMe account has been set up for the Breckle family, which can be found here.
Map of Cedar Hill
Commentary:
I don’t really know much about this accident, but I’m surprised that people haven’t been making a bigger deal about it. As with most accidents, I think a lot of folks wondered whether this was preventable. Could this have been stopped? Well, if I’m reading the news right, it sounds like it could have been.
If this bus had an extendable device that would’ve prevented the kids from walking in front of the bus, then folks should know why that wasn’t being used — or why it didn’t work. It’s like having a safety on a gun, but never turning it on.
Furthermore, we have to address the elephant in the room at some point: the bus driver. I’m sure that person didn’t mean to cause any pain, but could a quick mirror check have prevented this as well? Some more investigation might be in order because it seems like, months later, there are still quite a few questions about what exactly happened that afternoon.
— Grossman Law Offices
