GUILTY IN - Three Children Killed at School Bus Stop, Fulton County, Rochester, 30 Oct 2018 *Arrest*

[Suwannee]

Ugh, the bus driver waved them across.

Yeah....I read that, too. I pray the bus driver gets counseling. I feel sorry for him.

If A. Shepherd were going 55m.p.h., showing no signs of slowing down, she would travel about 80 feet per second. While the school bus driver was honking the bus horn as a warning, A. Shepherd covered a large amount of ground in a very short period of time.
Allow Adequate Following Distance

 

[IceIce9]

Exactly!! The authorities wouldn’t have far to go to arrest me if I had done this to children; they would only need to scrape me off the ground and put me in a straight jacket.
Who fully understands how the stressed mind works to justify an action such as this? Furthermore and IMO, any justification to diminish fault is a condition of a sick heart.

The driver said she didn’t recognize that the red flashing lights were a school bus. Wouldn’t she at least think red flashing lights were indicating some kind of warming?

Years ago I hit a dog on my way to work. I was an absolute basket case and went directly home, never made it to work that day or the next.

The dog had run out in front of me and I couldn’t avoid it. I can’t imagine how someone who killed three children due to their own neglegent driving and saw the horrific scene of the dead children could even manage to function.

 

[BrownRice]

I work for a school Corp. close to where this happened. It’s horrible. Our district doesn’t have any students who have to cross a highway for the bus stop. However, I can see how this happens:

1. There is a huge staffing issue with drivers/aides/subs. Not enough personnel, so they probably try to make the least number of stops possible. Statewide issue.

2. Money talks. This happened outside of a mobile home park. Local rumors (no link to support but it’s all over the local news here) state families requested bus stop be moved numerous times to no avail. Now it has. I guarantee you this couldn’t happen (bus stop on other side of highway) in an upper income neighborhood. Parents would have complained to School Board and admin office and change would have been made. I see this every day (how parent complaints are weighed by district).

 

[Suwannee]

I work for a school Corp. close to where this happened. It’s horrible. Our district doesn’t have any students who have to cross a highway for the bus stop. However, I can see how this happens:

1. There is a huge staffing issue with drivers/aides/subs. Not enough personnel, so they probably try to make the least number of stops possible. Statewide issue.

2. Money talks. This happened outside of a mobile home park. Local rumors (no link to support but it’s all over the local news here) state families requested bus stop be moved numerous times to no avail. Now it has. I guarantee you this couldn’t happen (bus stop on other side of highway) in an upper income neighborhood. Parents would have complained to School Board and admin office and change would have been made. I see this every day (how parent complaints are weighed by district).

According to the victims’ uncle, Elgin Ingle, @BrownRice, you are right; it’s not a rumor. Past complaints/concerns to the school corp. about this highway crossing’s safety appeared to have fallen on deaf ears:

School corporation to change location of Rochester bus stop after 3 siblings killed

Why does it take death to get things changed (THREE, in this case!!)?

Prayers for all the families horribly affected....

 

[IceIce9]

I travel between rural Indiana clinics for work. Most of my travel is on two-lane highways, early morning. I often find myself behind school buses and I see kids crossing the highway to board the bus all the time.

Is it just Indiana where students cross from the opposite side to get on the bus? It is so common here, and I drive literally all over the state. In cities and towns the kids usually cross the street before the bus arrives but the buses still only pick up on one side of the street. In rural areas they usually wait in their driveways until the bus arrives, and then cross.

Do they not cross the street in front of buses in other states?

 

[Suwannee]

@IceIce9, in my county in Florida, we are spoiled. Our school district supplies buses that not only pick up on the same side of the street or turn into the neighborhood to facilitate the safety of the child, they also supply “courtesy buses” for the children who live within a two-mile radius (“as the crow flies”) of the school. However, I live in the “burbs” - don’t know the pick-up/drop-off school bus protocol for those who live in a rural setting or off of a highway.
I might add, elementary-aged children are the latest group to be picked up as school starts later for them (ca. 8:40). Children of high-school age start the earliest (ca. 7:25). So, work traffic is somewhat less at the time the youngest ones start their school day.

 

[Tyra1003]

And yet again yesterday in MS.

Child dies after getting hit by truck while trying to board school bus

A child has died after getting hit by a pickup truck while crossing the road to board a school bus on a Mississippi highway.

The victim has been identified by authorities as 9-year-old Dalen Thomas of the Pratts Community in Lee County. The incident occurred on Highway 370 at around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.

 

[flowers In the dustbin]

What is there to say, other than The horror, the horror.

 

[YESorNO]

Driver Charged in Crash that Killed Twin Brothers, 6, and Big Sister, 9, While Boarding School Bus

October 31, 2018

"An Indiana woman has been charged with reckless homicide, accused of fatally striking three siblings with her truck as they crossed the road to board a school bus on Tuesday.

Alyssa Shepherd, 24, was taken into custody on Tuesday afternoon. She was charged with three counts of reckless homicide and one misdemeanor count of disregarding a stop sign and causing injury, PEOPLE confirms. According to court records, she was taken to the Fulton County Jail, and released Tuesday night on a $15,000 surety bond.

Alivia Stahl, 9, and her 6-year-old twin brothers Xzavier and Mason Ingle were killed in the crash that occurred at about 7 a.m. in Rochester...."

Driver Charged in Crash that Killed Twin Brothers, 6, and Big Sister, 9, While Boarding School Bus

(Siblings Xzavier & Mason Ingle, 6, Alivia Stahl, 9- Sean Lewis/Twitter)
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[KaaBoom]

I travel between rural Indiana clinics for work. Most of my travel is on two-lane highways, early morning. I often find myself behind school buses and I see kids crossing the highway to board the bus all the time.

Is it just Indiana where students cross from the opposite side to get on the bus? It is so common here, and I drive literally all over the state. In cities and towns the kids usually cross the street before the bus arrives but the buses still only pick up on one side of the street. In rural areas they usually wait in their driveways until the bus arrives, and then cross.

Do they not cross the street in front of buses in other states?

Do you think it would be safer to have children crossing the highway by themselves and waiting on the highway in the dark for the bus? This woman wouldn't even stop for flashing red lights and a stop sign. She certainly wouldn't have stopped for unprotected children crossing the highway in the dark.

 

[IceIce9]

Do you think it would be safer to have children crossing the highway by themselves and waiting on the highway in the dark for the bus? This woman wouldn't even stop for flashing red lights and a stop sign. She certainly wouldn't have stopped for unprotected children crossing the highway in the dark.

No, I don’t think it would be safer. I think the driver should have noticed the red flashing lights and stopped.

My point was that it isn’t unusual, at least here in Indiana, for kids to board the bus on the opposite side of the street.

 

[IceIce9]

@IceIce9, in my county in Florida, we are spoiled. Our school district supplies buses that not only pick up on the same side of the street or turn into the neighborhood to facilitate the safety of the child, they also supply “courtesy buses” for the children who live within a two-mile radius (“as the crow flies”) of the school. However, I live in the “burbs” - don’t know the pick-up/drop-off school bus protocol for those who live in a rural setting or off of a highway.
I might add, elementary-aged children are the latest group to be picked up as school starts later for them (ca. 8:40). Children of high-school age start the earliest (ca. 7:25). So, work traffic is somewhat less at the time the youngest ones start their school day.

That sounds much safer for the kids.

One challenge here in Indiana is that some of the rural routes are more than an hour long. If the bus picked up from both sides of the road it could potentially double the length of the route.

Drivers just need to stop for red flashing lights. Also all the buses I have seen have white flashing strobe lights on top, making the buses very visible.

 

[mickey2942]

I believe that it should be a federal law, mandatory reporting for medical professionals to report to the DMV, anyone who is taking Oxycodone, or other prescription medications that are contraindicated for driving. I also believe that vision, and other physical conditions should be reported as well.

I would bet anything that the driver has a medical condition or is taking medication, and we don't know because of Health Information Privacy laws. I have personally seen many people who have no business driving, continue to drive, because "they HAVE to". It is pure selfishness.

Few states have laws requiring doctors to report medical conditions to the DMV. And doctors don't want to, they say it is a privacy issue, the truth is that they don't want the liability if they don't report.

A woman I knew slightly, killed a bicyclist, she didn't serve a day in jail. For killing a person! I know she had severe arthritis in her hands, neuropathy in her feet, diabetic, and vision problems. I don't think that the information was even disclosed.

As our population ages, this will be more of an issue.

 

[Suwannee]

At this point, Alyssa Leigh Shepherd has been charged with three counts of a level 5 felony and one count of a class A misdemeanor.

Case Search - MyCase

 

[IceIce9]

The driver behind Alyssa Shepherd said she could see the children in Alyssa’s truck’s headlights.

Shepherd described herself as “typically a slow driver”

And a trooper reported that her vehicle had gone several hundred yards past the accident site.

Court docs: driver said she 'did not realize it was a school bus' before hitting kids

 

[Suwannee]

The driver behind Alyssa Shepherd said she could see the children in Alyssa’s truck’s headlights.

Shepherd described herself as “typically a slow driver”

And a trooper reported that her vehicle had gone several hundred yards past the accident site.

Court docs: driver said she 'did not realize it was a school bus' before hitting kids

So, if the driver saw these vulnerable children why didn’t A. Shepherd...
Hmmm.... IMO, no excuses for A. Shepherd.

 

[IceIce9]

So, if the driver saw these vulnerable children why didn’t A. Shepherd...
Hmmm.... IMO, no excuses for A. Shepherd.

How traumatic for that driver! To see the children in Shepherd’s headlights as she was speeding toward them.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

How traumatic for that driver! To see the children in Shepherd’s headlights as she was speeding toward them.

Not only the driver, but the children in her truck and also the children on the bus.

 

[mickey2942]

I don't know what type of penalty this killer will receive, but I know that I don't want her driving a car, ever again. My personal opinion is that she should receive at least 10 years in prison.

 

[Suwannee]

I don't know what type of penalty this killer will receive, but I know that I don't want her driving a car, ever again. My personal opinion is that she should receive at least 10 years in prison.

As far as I can determine, just on the three counts of class 5 felony, she may receive up to 6 years max for each if I'm interpreting this correctly:

"Level 5 felonies are equivalent to the old class C felonies. However, now they carry a reduced potential sentence of one to six years in the DOC, with an advisory term of three years.

Involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, criminal recklessness, bribery, stalking and nonsupport of a dependent amounting to more than $15,000 are examples of some level 5 felonies."

Source:
State makes sweeping changes to felony classifications