School bus runs over student, 17, in Warren
WARREN — The condition of some of Warren’s streets and sidewalks, which led to the closing of school last Friday, was a contributing factor in leg injuries suffered by a 17-year-old student running alongside his school bus Wednesday morning.
He slipped under the bus and was run over by the wheels.
“Thank goodness his injuries are not more serious,” Kathryn Hellweg, Warren superintendent, said of the student, who was admitted to Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital. She and the hospital declined to discuss his injuries, though Hellweg said he’s a “very fortunate young man” and doesn’t believe the injuries are serious.
The boy, of Austin Avenue Northwest, was injured on West Market Street about 8:20 a.m. He told police he had missed the bus and ran alongside of it until just after the intersection with Ohio Avenue, when he fell in the snow and his legs slid under the bus.
Warren police Sgt. Joseph O’Grady said the snow and ice were a couple of feet high and sloping down from the grassy area beside the road to the edge of the street.
The sidewalk is covered in snow in that area, as are the sidewalks in most parts of the city.
The bus driver didn’t realize the boy was trying to catch the bus until she felt the “thump” of the two right-rear tires rolling over the boy’s thighs, O’Grady said. The boy was in the road behind the bus when officers and emergency workers arrived, O’Grady said. “He was definitely in pain,” O’Grady said, though he couldn’t tell if any bones were broken.
“My heart goes out to the young man but also to the bus driver, who did absolutely everything right,” Hellweg said. “It [such an injury] has been a fear of mine with all of the ice and snow and the sidewalks not shoveled,” Hellweg said.
School was canceled three days last week because of snow, the last of them primarily because of an accumulation of snow on sidewalks and streets and the impassability of some residential streets, Hellweg said.
Conditions are still not very good, she said, adding that she saw a number of adults walking in the street today as she was traveling around the city.
“It’s never a good idea to run alongside of a bus or any vehicle, especially in these conditions,” Hellweg cautioned.
“Get to the bus stop early, and watch for bad spots as you’re walking,” she said of students, adding that she also asks drivers to be extra careful around pedestrians.
Mayor Michael O’Brien said the city has a law requiring property owners to keep their sidewalks clear of snow and debris, but it appears property owners got behind on shoveling the walks this year and never got caught up.
He said the problem seems worse this year than most, and there has been no attempt to enforce the law on shoveling sidewalks, he said.
O’Brien noted that the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office has been providing snow shoveling assistance from inmates this winter.
He encourages residents who are not able to clear their own sidewalks to make use of that help.
The phone number is (330) 675-7096.
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