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A 6-year-old boy was killed when a bus crashed into his Hempstead, N.Y., home Tuesday evening.
A bus driver trying to avoid hitting a pedestrian slammed into a multi-family house on Long Island, N.Y., killing a 6-year-old boy inside and injuring his older brother, Nassau County police said.
The incident was one of two fatal accidents on the island involving public buses on Tuesday evening.
The 6-year-old boy was killed when the bus, part of the Nassau Inter County Express (NICE) system, crashed into the house in Hempstead around 9:30 p.m., police said. The boy and his 7-year-old brother were in the front bedroom of the house when the bus hit the pedestrian before plowing into the house, police said.
For more, visit NBCNewYork.com
Police said 11 passengers suffered minor injuries. About 20 people were on the bus.
The boy was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His brother suffered non-life threatening injuries, police said.
The pedestrian who was struck was taken to the hospital. Police described his injuries as non-life threatening.
The identities of the children were not immediately released.
Police said a preliminary investigation indicated no apparent criminality. The investigation was continuing.
A spokesperson for NICE said the company "is cooperating with police officials, and has its own team investigating the incident."
Earlier Tuesday evening, a 35-year-old pedestrian was struck and killed by a transit bus in Coram. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene around 5 p.m. There were no other injuries.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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How awful a young child who was right where he belonged has died in such an accident. All because a pedestrian was attempting to cross the road improperly and the bus driver was trying to avoid hitting him. Thankfully the driver missed the pole and no one else died. It is amazing the number of accidents caused by pedestrians stepping out improperly in the middle of blocks instead of cross walks. I pray the family will be able to find comfort and peace in the coming days. With the brother making a quick recovering as well as the pedestrian and passengers. I do wish people would be more careful when walking in traffic.
Pedestrians need to be especially careful at night. You don't realize how near invisible you are to drivers.
Did you read another article? I did not see anything that says "a pedestrian was attempting to cross the road improperly" in this article. That may be what happened, maybe not.
I live right near this area. All witnesses say that is what happened. Side note, many pedestrians cross this street very casually. It's very crowded and people do speed. The pedestrian was honked at to move but kept his/her same pace. I wonder if there may be a cell phone or music player of some type involved. That's usually the case. Walking/texting in the street should be just as punishable as driving wh8ile doing the same. You don't know how many times I've had to swerve to avoid someone stepping out into the street while distracted.
Never swerve to avoid something in the road. Swerve and you might kill someone. The person in the street put himself there despite being able to see the bus; anyone that gets hit by a bus in the street deserves to be hit by a bus. The little boy did not put himself in any danger and did not deserve this.
From a NY Post article: "The driver honked his horn three times, but the pedestrian continued crossing against the light, according to a police spokesman."
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bus_crash_horror_fobmqhj3Osnoiz2oSDZBNK
Depending on the circumstances (if he were wearing headphone, and could not hear, that might mitigate the circumstances), the pedestrian should possibly be charged.
@Morton McGonigal, while in general I agree, don't swerve, you MUST take evasive actions if there is a person in front of your vehicle, and you reasonably believe you won't kill anyone else. It is hard to imagine killing someone in this manner when he originally made the split-second decision to avoid the pedestrian. If you don't take evasive actions, and kill a pedestrian, expect to at least spend a lot of time answering questions with your lawyer by your side, because you certainly may be charged.
Slam on your brakes, leave skid marks, but don't swerve. Though it looks like if the driver could honk three times he could slow down enough not to plow into a home.
Pedestrians do not care that they are hard to see at night and are the main cause in this type of accident unless they get injured. Unfortunately now the Feds will make people wear seat belts while in bed or at home incase this happenes again. We have to wear them in cars but not on a bus!
The driver should have just plowed right through the self centered azz. I see it all the time in Los Angeles. Some people just decide to cross the street at anytime and dont care about drivers at all. Disgusting people.
sorry but don't believe the drivers story..
Whats not to believe? The story says that the bus driver was trying to avoid a pedestrian. Its not like there wasnt a pedestrian there. They got hit. It was 930 at night so visibility I'm sure was low. Is there another article with more info that says more? Because this one has little very little and the link to the NY site with additional info has none.
Really? Did you miss the part that said the pedestrian was hit? That adds a little credence to the story.
Officer, the house just popped up in front of me. There was nothing I could do.
He's in a better place now. (the grill of the bus).
Seriously?!?!? You are a scumbag! Why would you even say something like that- a innocent 6 year old boy died!
You don't know he's innocent.
How NOT innocent can a 6 year old be??? IDIOT!
Joe Scatone: When I read posts like yours it is heartbreaking you lack any sympathy. I'm not angry with you; just truly sorry for you.
My prayers to the little boy and his family.
You should also feel sorry for people who don't realize they are being trolled.
I really truly hope you end up someones hood ornament one day. How awful of you to speak of an innocent 6yr old child who was asleep in his bed.
No, Joe, we should feel sorry for people like you who still think trolling is just a bit of fun. You are the lowest form of scum on the internet.
@KennyVee. You opened up a collapsed comment so you could respond to a comment you knew was a troll. Feeding a troll is even lower than being a troll.
If this was as the driver says, how horrible for him, to have tried to avoid hitting a hitting a pedestrian and killing a sleeping child! A nightmare for the rest of his life....
No criminality? Well, someone either did something criminal or was criminally negligent?
Either the pedestrian the bus driver was trying to miss was jaywalking or otherwise practicing stupid behavior (texting while walking? talking on cell phone while walking? ) or the bus driver was negligent in practicing safe and defensive driving. My initial thought is pedestrian, but I may be as oblivious to actual facts as the story is.
My sincerest condolences to the family of these children - no one ever deserves to wake up to such a tragedy.
There are things called accidents.
Lavrn - obviously it was an accident. But something can be a crime without there being "intent" involved. The person who runs a red light and hits a car did not leave the house with that intent.....but it is still a crime is it not? That is why we have homicide and manslaughter and within them varying degrees of each. The difference is based on level of intent and method used.
I somewhat agree with 2kmaro... someone is usually at fault more than the other... but as far as criminally negligent, that remains to be seen.
Agreed, but just because something is an accident doesn't mean there is no liability. That's why there are things called insurance policies.
joe scatone, you are an idiot
This is what happens when drivers do not drive slow enough so as to be able to yield to pedestrians.My condolences to this young boy's family and speedy recovery to the pedestrian.
Pedestrians only have the right of way when crossing at a marked crosswalk and with the traffic light. It doesnt mean a pedestrian gets to waltz across any road whenever they feel like it and all cars have to magically stop for them.
Nevermind how much room is needed to stop a bus, it isnt exactly a Ferrari
Cleaning lady is right. The driver should have been able to avoid hitting the pedestrian and avoid plowing into the house, as well, if we were traveling at a reasonable speed for a bus. That is especially the case if it's true the bus driver had time enough to honk three times at the pedestrian, as is referenced by people reading other articles.
that effin blows....
Be kind to your children, love them every moment you have them...in an unexpected second they could be gone forever. This story is just so sad...any mother can relate to the horror of this. Condolences to the families.
This accident was directly in front of a Burger King in the neighborhood. There IS a light right at that corner but many do not use it. I can't say for sure this was the case, but obviously if a person is crossing the street and a bus has to swerve to hit that person, either the driver ran a light or the pedestrian was crossing against the light.
I live right in the area and many people have a very nonchalant attitude towards rules of the road - both drivers and pedestrians. I'm more inclined to believe the pedestrian that got hit had the same attitude as almost every other person in the area...they almost dare you to hit them sometimes.
I feel sorry for the family that lost a young loved one. This will scar them forever.
It's true that they almost dare you to hit them so they can sue one for everything we have.It seems the pedestrian has more rights than the driver.
Evil always says the same thing. "You weren't there." I have heard so many guilty people say this one phrase through the years with abuse and "accident" accusations. My dad used to say, accidents don't happen, they are caused. He was correct. There are far too many "accidents" all the time now where someone appears to use their vehicle to drive through a home or business hurting and killing people. Why now, why all of sudden are people plowing like this. Do you know how fast a car has to be going to drive through a wall? You have to be gunning it.
Carol, you have no idea just how wrong you are. A bus carrying 20 passengers would weigh in the neighborhood of 17,000 pounds. It would only need to coast, unpowered, at about 10 mph to penetrate the average wood framed wall.
Suppose an airline pilot has a heart attack and his plane nose dives into a school bus full of children. You weren't there. What caused the accident? Who, if anyone, is guilty?
Knowing the area where this happened, my gut is telling me that this is a case of a stupid pedestrian stepping out into oncoming traffic, at night, when no one can see him, expecting traffic to magically stop for his convenience. If this is the case, then I feel sorry for the poor bus driver, who will probably spend the rest of his life wishing he had saved the innocent 6 year old and ran over the jay walker.
Guess you shouldn't text and walk out infront of a bus
You know theirs plenty of idiots at night, who have no clue to look b4 crossing even if the light is green. They just assume cuz the light is green they can cross without looking. Dumb, dumb dumb. I was at light when it was green, I was making a right and a family was crossing not using their crosswalk but just before their cross walk and they assume that no car will be making a right. I slammed on my breaks and wahla, their safe. But just imagine, If I were not that quick. Damn people are fools outthere without any common sense. I'm sure I'm one of them at times. But no one is careful anymore. really dumb
hmmm...The bus driver honked 3 times (according to ny post) the pedestrian didnt move any faster! ok, guess the bus driver didnt think to slow the f%^* down huh?
Are you a bus driver?? My brother was. It is a split decision and although sometimes it may turn out to be the wrong one, the bus driver has many lives to think about. Cars don't stop on a dime, what makes you think a bus can? Honk or not, he did what he thought was best at the time. I guarantee that this will haunt him the rest of his life thinking what he could have done different to avoid taking a child's life.
Don't jugde lest ye be judge.
Unless the bus was driving on the sidewalk, or side of the road, or speeding, then yes the pedestrian is at fault. Even if it was a marked crosswalk, who in their right mind expects a bus to stop for them when there is no stop sign?
Be honest, how many of you have seen the person who jumps out in front of traffic and runs and expects the vehicle to stop? I have seen it hundreds of times, so I know that each and every one of you have too.
Each time, I say to myself, someday that nut job, fruitcake is going to get someone killed. They never get killed, he*l they hardly ever get hurt. As is just the case.
Unless you have driven a bus, then you may not have common sense to know that they can not stop on a dime. Controlling a bus that is veering and trying not to turn it over to not hurt the passengers is not as easy as it looks.
Steven100, you couldn't have said it better. I have had many a close call because of people thinking they have unconditional right of way.
Two deaths in 1 day. This is out of control. I don't feel safe walking the streets. We need Bus Control.When Busses are outlawed only criminals will have busses. I wonder if the driver was a DOT member? They should have to take a safe driving class before they can drive a bus.They should screen the drivers better. More senseless deaths due to uncontroled busses. This has to stop.