A child was struck by a hit and run driver this afternoon while getting off a school bus, officials say.
The school bus was reportedly letting the child off on Prospect Street shortly before 3 p.m. when a vehicle passed the bus, striking the child, officials say. The vehicle then fled the scene.
The child suffered minor injuries, and is being treated by first responders.
Police are searching for the suspect vehicle.
[TLS]
I hope the driver is caught soon and is locked up for a long time.
Btw, was the child dropped off on the same side of Prospect or did the driver endanger the childs life by dropping him off on the wrong side of the road and making him cross the busy Prospect St?
Unfortunately, we see too many drivers drop off children on the wrong side of bust streets to save a minute, and putting the childs life in danger of a reckless driver.
The police need to crack down on that big time.
Also, I believe it is illegal for a bus to drop a child from the opposing lane of a busy street.
This is why we need more traffic lights and lower the speed limit, a tragedy was BH averted this time, but we must slow things down here in Lakewood, otherwise it is mamosh a sakona.
People run my red lights daily. So no matter the case red means stop; yellow means slow down.No one cares until its their own.
Responding to the first comment- there’s a law that when the bus stops and has his red stop sign out, the drivers on the opposite side of the road must come to a complete stop and wait. That law is for the safety of the children. There wouldn’t be such a law of it was illegal for the kids to cross. This isn’t in any way the bus drivers fault. People in this town drive like they own the streets. It is dangerous and leads to many incidents such as this one. This has to stop. People must start obeying traffic laws or it will only get worse.
Who said the driver dropped on the wrong side of the street? & , if they did drop on opposite side, who
are you , there’s no law stating not to. However, there are plenty of laws stating you can not drive through a Busdrivers red lights! A long with a hefty fine and points on your license. Are we invisible??? I just want to know…because unless there’s a permanent divider between opposing lanes of traffic, you must stop! Including a four lane road. People go through my reds on a daily basis. It sickens me.
kids should be droped off on their side of the street
I agree with # 4, HOWEVER, how many times have we ALL witnessed a driver stopping at a four cornered intersection, and kids cross in all directions? not just to the opposite side of the street, but across the street and then to the other side of the intersection? If kids must cross the street and then the intersection-why oh why- cant the bus pull into the center of the intersection and let his presence be noticed by blocking most of the intersection to grant a safety zone for the kids crossing in all directions?
To yankiv –
Your comment makes no sense. What on earth do speed limits or traffic lights have anything to do with illegally passing a school bus that has its lights on while dropping off a precious child?!!
This perpetrator violated a state law requiring his vehicle to be stopped at least 25 feet away on either side of the bus. The creep was impatient and recklessly inconsiderate of the law protecting our children. He/She then hit a young child with his car and immediately left the scene so he can avoid the consequences of his terrible actions.
There’s a good reason why a driver is hit with an automatic 5 points on his record when passing a school bus. The law also permits the judge to jail the perpetrator for up to 15 days (See N.J.S.A. 39:4-128.1)
I’m sure the law has even more severe penalties for this guy who went even further than just operating a vehicle in a forbidden manner. HE HIT A CHILD when the child clearly had the right of way and then quickly took off in order not to face the music..
Can you think of a bigger creep??
Lets not forget the bus drivers who think they own the road and blow right through stop signs….
To yankiv –
Your comment makes no sense. What on earth do speed limits or traffic lights have anything to do with illegally passing a school bus that has its lights flashing while dropping off a precious child?!!
This perpetrator violated a state law requiring his vehicle to be stopped at least 25 feet away on either side of the bus. The creep was impatient and recklessly inconsiderate of the law protecting our children. He/She then hit a young child with his car and immediately left the scene so he can avoid the consequences of his terrible actions.
There’s a good reason why a driver is hit with an automatic 5 points on his record when passing a school bus. The law also permits the judge to jail the perpetrator for up to 15 days (See N.J.S.A. 39:4-128.1)
I’m sure the law has even more severe penalties for this guy who went even further than just operating a vehicle in a forbidden manner. HE HIT A CHILD when the child clearly had the right of way and then quickly took off in order not to face the music..
Can you think of a bigger creep??
If I may take this opportunity to address a phenomenon that’s been concerning me for some time now. School buses are equipped with both yellow flashing lights and red flashing lights. If I recall correctly, up until about five years ago the bus drivers when dropping off a child would first stop, turn on the yellow flashing lights for three seconds and then turn on the red flashing lights and allow the child to disembark. Recently however, the bus drivers are driving around with their yellow flashing lights on at all times and when stopping they abruptly turn on the red flashing lights and allow the children to disembark immediately. From my own personal experience it become very hard to stop for a bus traveling in another lane without slamming on the brakes. Does anyone know if these bus drivers are breaking the law by driving around with yellow flashing lights? Is the purpose of these lights to make drivers aware that they’re about to turn red (similar to a traffic light) or is the purpose of these lights for some other reason (like a tow truck)?
to # 1 there is a list of streets that the board and the police have put together that students are not allowed to cross. You should get the list and find out all the facts before blaming the bus driver
The ways of how driving in Lakewood has changed over the years is ludacris. Lakewood is no longer a town that can be driven from one end of town to another in five minutes as of say twenty years ago. Individuals are tending to pay more attention to cell phones, and just to be in a great hurry for no reason at all. My question is; why didn’t the driver of the car stop for a minute to let the child cross? Could it have been distraction or not caring about the well being of others? Everyone needs to calm down, and put aside all of the distractions so that we can all make it home alive. I can only hope the child that was struck is ok, and will not be harmed by any kind psychological issues from this incident.
I’m not a bus driver but I know they turn on the flashing yellow lights to let you know the bus is about to stop and leave children off. When you see the yellow lights be prepared to stop, don’t try and get by the bus. SAFETY,SAFETY.
there is no excuse for hitting a kid getting off a bus! Even if you want to blame the driver for stopping abruptly, the bus had to have been stopped long enough for the kid to walk down the steps of the bus, get off the bus and walk around the bus before getting hit! so no matter how you look at it the driver of the car was WRONG! Let’s keep in mind that it was only 3:00 so in all likely hood the child was in primary…. not exactly big enough to get off the bus in mere seconds! He had plenty of notice to stop for this bus! Besides no matter what the bus driver may have done “wrong” when dropping the child off, last i checked 2 wrongs do not make a right! IN OTHER WORDS STOP FOR SCHOOL BUSES NO MATTER WHAT!!!
To bus driver,
I know there’s a list, and I see buses disregard the list all the time. I’ve even called the police once to complain when it’s gotten out of hand, and they’ve cooperated.
Are you saying Prospect St. is not on that list?
It is very annoying I have this very often people passing my kids buses when they are trying to come off. Usually they are on the phone!! That’s against the law by the way wouln’t hurt to have some police around prospect and williams around 3:30 pm so they could see how rude and disrespectful some people are!
To be absolutely clear, the first thing I said is that they should lock up the driver of the car.
But we still need the bus drivers to protect our children from these reckless drivers, whom we all see all too often. Especially on streets where they are not allowed to drop off and pick up across, it’s not safe.
I hope that clears it up.
If it turns out that the driver/perpetrator is a yid ,can i turn him in to the police or must i ask a shayla first?
Firstly why are we all assuming that the red lights were on?? It doesn’t say anywhere that the lights were on of already turned off.
Regardless I agree with meow that the bus drivers need to show more discretion when turning on the lights & not turning them on abruptly when traffic is coming full force.
Is it possible for you to post either the license number of the hit and run vehicle or a description of it or both? Perhaps one of us will spot the car and report it so we can get this maniac off the roads.
It’s not illegal to drop kids off on one side of the road that’s y cars have to stop both ways every town should do it the way lbi does have a cop car follow each bus in case this happens
I would never and have not ever passed a school bus. How could you hit a child and drive away? I hope they find this person/persons quick. This could of ended badly. Thankfully, the child will be ok.
What did the car look like so that we can help find the person
If you know who the driver is or think you know,go to police. How could you live with that?
To #13 – Less music, more reading.
The word is spelled “ludicrous” (or was it on purpose?).
Meow (#11), it’s a good question. I don’t know.
Perhaps you should call a bus company.
Fortunately, this issue doesn’t affect safety, (I think,)
because if you’d need to slam on the brakes to avoid passing a bus,
the only way to hit a child would be if you were on a four-lane road
in the lane to the right of the bus, because a child would need to come
around the front of the bus before appearing in a lane going the opposite
direction. (Do buses let off in the middle of four-lane roads around here?)
ANON (#20), I don’t understand how the thought that the
red lights might not have been on even crossed your mind.
It seems unlikely that a bus driver would have forgotten to
put them on – assuming it’s possible in the first place to open
the door without turning on the lights.