A Florida mother accidentally ran over her 12-year-old daughter after dropping her off for the first day of middle school, WFTS reported Monday.
Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Kenn Watson said that the mother had just used the right turn lane in front of the Booker Middle School in Sarasota to drop off her daughter. The girl accidentally dropped her backpack and some school materials under the family’s SUV and crawled underneath the vehicle to retrieve them, according to WFTS. (RELATED: Son Allegedly Kills Father By Running Him Over Multiple Times Outside Bar)
Sarasota middle school student accidentally run over by mom at morning drop-off. https://t.co/BKRO9WchvU
— ELLIOT IN THE MORNING (@EITMonline) August 13, 2024
“The mother thought the child had already cleared and began to pull forward,” Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Kenneth Watson told FOX13. “She immediately stopped when she heard her child screaming.”
The girl suffered critical injuries and was airlifted to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, according to WFTS.
Troopers pointed out that there are signs along the right-turn lane indicating that parents should drop children off in the designated area in front of the school, FOX13 reported.
“But this is an incident when it wasn’t the speed of the vehicle that caused the injury,” Watson told the outlet. “It was simply someone being in a rush and making an assumption.”
Booker Middle School principal Lashawn Frost sent a letter home to parents informing them of the accident, saying, “This serves as a reminder of the importance of following our established safety procedures.”
“The bottom line is this, first day of school let’s watch out for the school zones, let’s make sure that we are driving safely, situational awareness, and, again, always making sure you clear the vehicle of all the pedestrians before you pull forward,” Watson told FOX13, adding that the accident could have been avoided if the mother had simply paid more attention.
