Tallmadge boy nearly hit by vehicle after being dropped off at home by school bus
A video is making the rounds on social media after a Tallmadge parent posted it showing a vehicle nearly hitting her 7-year-old son after he'd gotten off a school bus near his home Thursday.
The 46-second video, which was recorded from a neighbor's house, shows the boy, Wyatt, standing on the side of the road as a vehicle heads toward him with no sign of stopping. A horn beeps three times and then the vehicle stops near the bus. After a few seconds, the boy, a student at Tallmadge Elementary School, crosses the street.
Sgt. David Quillen, a Tallmadge school resource officer, said that as of Friday evening, no charges have been filed. Because the video was shot from a distance, it would be difficult to determine who the driver was, and no license plate was visible. Still, Quillen said, the video could serve as a lesson to motorists to pay attention.
"This could have went in a very different direction," Quillen said. "I'm sharing it not to shame the driver, but so that maybe we can all take a breath and realize just how important it is to pay attention when we're driving."
Quillen said the bus had been stopped, with flashing lights, but the driver, who may have been distracted, nearly hit the child.
"This could have been a tragedy, not a learning moment," he said.
Brittany Ann Tabor, Wyatt's mother, said this is not the first time she has seen an incident like this happen.
"This is not the first time that this has happened on my road; this has happened with my older son's bus as well," Tabor said. "It's always people coming from the Falls, coming up my road towards the circle. They are always flying, trying to beat the light or trying to beat the bus."
Tabor said the video was from a neighbor's camera.
"I'm usually outside waiting for the bus, but I just so happened to be feeding my 3-month-old daughter at the time," she said. "I heard the beeping but I didn't see what was going on. I didn't know what happened until my neighbor asked me, 'Hey, is he OK?' Then my son came running in. He told me he was nearly hit by a car, and he said that it scared him."
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Something similar happened early in the school year and later in the fall, Tabor said.
"I've been living here since 1998," Tabor said. "It's one of the biggest problems we have on Northwest Avenue. When my oldest son, who's 11, goes out to wait for the bus in the morning, I go wait with him because it's dark, so the bus sees him, and other drivers see him."
Tabor said the issue is exacerbated by a nearby hill, which reduces visibility, and the lack of street lighting. She added that she would like to see a sign telling drivers there is a bus stop near the light.
"If my son had been two seconds earlier, if he hadn't been paying attention, he might not be here today," she said. "Wyatt had already started to cross the street when the vehicle came up. I've always taught my kids that because we live on a busy street, to make sure you check traffic and make sure the vehicles are at a complete stop before you even look at the bus driver. As fast as that car was going, my son may not be here now."
Tabor said she hoped that those watching the video will be reminded to slow down and pay attention, and that she wouldn't want someone to have a death or injury on their conscious.
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Reporter April Helms can be reached at ahelms@thebeaconjournal.com
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Tallmadge boy nearly hit by vehicle shortly after leaving school bus
