LITTLE ROCK — We’ve all probably both obeyed and ignored them over the years. Those pedestrian lights that tell us when it’s safe to cross a busy intersection are everywhere in our larger cities.
When the light says it’s safe to cross, walkers have about five seconds to begin moving before the light begins flashing. That means only about four seconds remain to get across.
Therein lies the mystery unfolding in Bentonville where 17-year-old high school student Megan Davis was struck by a school bus in a crosswalk on October 4.
As Davis remained in a Springfield, Mo., hospital with head trauma and other injuries last week, investigators were still wrestling with a crucial question: Were those seconds of protected crossing in effect for Davis when she was hit?
The first police statement said the light had turned green for the bus when it hit the young woman. Then multiple witnesses emerged with a completely different account.
Ashley-Marie Halsey of Bentonville was driving the first car in line facing the bus. She and two others who say they witnessed the accident believe the bus had a red-not a green-light. A news account reported that a Bentonville School District transportation report said the bus driver, 60-year-old Lisa Fitzner, “looked in her rear-view mirror to speak to a student while approaching the intersection.” The report also states that once Fitzner returned her attention to the roadway, westbound traffic had stopped and she saw Davis.
The impact reportedly knocked the girl about 10 yards. She subsequently was flown to Mercy Hospital in Springfield, where she remained in serious condition last week.
That initial Bentonville police news release said Davis no longer had a signal to safely walk when she stepped into the crosswalk. Halsey disputes that. “The crosswalk light was blinking,” she told a reporter. “I just want the truth to be told. I literally think they are trying to hide it. This is why I quit talking to the cops. They said she did not have a walking signal. I told them the light was blinking. She was free and clear and good to go.”
Halsey isn’t alone in her version.Ashley McClard of Bentonville was a passenger in Halsey’s vehicle; she didn’t see the accident at the moment it occurred, but said she heard it and immediately looked. “Every single lane of traffic was at a complete stop,” McClard told a reporter. “Turning lanes and oncoming traffic was also completely stopped. No one was moving. I don’t think it was the little girl’s fault. I feel like the focus has been about putting the blame on her, when she’s in a hospital bed.
“The noise that the impact made when the bus hit her was the most horrific noise that I have ever heard in my life,” McClard continued.
There’s also Josh Massey of Bentonville, who said he was waiting in his vehicle two cars behind Halsey and McClard. He, too, told police the bus had a red light. “I know what I saw, and the police report that came out was completely inaccurate,” he said.
Fitzner, who was immediately placed on paid administrative leave as police sorted out the facts, didn’t have any drugs or alcohol in her system, say school officials.
It seemed to me that, by Friday, police were having second thoughts on their findings after the witnesses offered their versions of what happened. A subsequent department news release said the accident is still under investigation. It also says information contained in the first news release shouldn’t be viewed as a determination of the department.
“The previously released information was not intended to represent any sort of determination of such factors,” this most recent public offering explained. “Once the investigation has been completed, contributing factors, if any, will be identified and assigned as appropriate. At this time, the investigation has not been completed, no such contributing factors have been assigned, and no additional details are ready for release.”
Is there a lesson in this unfortunate event? It strikes me there are at least two:
Authorities everywhere can learn it’s always best to be transparent, but also to gather as many facts as possible before making a public statement about something so serious.
School bus drivers (and all bus drivers for that matter) have a much more serious and scrutinized job than most of them may even realize, especially when injury-accidents are concerned. One momentary lapse behind the wheel is all that’s necessary to find themselves under intense public scrutiny along with all form of potential civil and even criminal legal difficulties.
I have no idea where the truth of this incident rests. But I do know a young lady finds herself in serious condition in a hospital bed, and a woman who I suspect has previously proven herself to be a capable and reliable school bus driver remains in limbo. Nothing positive about any of it.
Enough said
As to that vice-presidential debate, Proverbs says: “When a wise man has a controversy with a foolish man, the foolish man either rages or laughs.”
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Mike Masterson’s column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at [email protected].
Editorial, Pages 17 on 10/16/2012