SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — A 16-year-old was taken to hospital Friday morning after being hit by a car on Central Street near Waverly Court.
An 84-year-old Summerside resident was charged after failing to stop for the school bus the student was boarding around 8 a.m. Summerside police and Island EMS attended the incident.
Police said the student was taken to the Prince County Hospital for treatment for what were believed to be minor injuries.
It’s the second time this month a child was hit by a car passing a stopped school bus in the city.
On April 3, a driver passed a stopped bus on Water Street as students were exiting the bus near Holland College.
In that case a 65-year-old Prince County man was charged with passing a school bus displaying flashing red lights.
The section of Central Street, north of Walker Avenue, has been worrisome for some local residents for years.
In 2017, Trevor Yeo, father of six, told Summerside city council he doesn’t let his kids walk on Central Street near their home on Waverly Court.
“The shoulder up there is unsafe,” said Yeo.
Elizabeth Wall, a worker at a Pope Road daycare, said parents were talking about Friday’s incident when they arrived to drop of their little ones.
Her co-workers meet the children arriving on the bus after school.
“We have had numerous incidents where cars are passing the stopped bus, even near-missing the staff who are receiving the children from the bus. One incident just happened last week,” she wrote in a message to the Journal Pioneer.
Police remind drivers to be vigilant in and around school zones and during pick-up and drop-off times for students.
On P.E.I., as of December 2018, failing to stop for a school bus when the red flashing lights are activated will lead to 12 demerit points, resulting in a licence suspension for three months as well as a fine of up to $5,000.
