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Louise Thomas
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A 12-year-old Florida girl has been critically injured after her mother accidentally ran her over on Monday during drop-off on her first day of school.
The accident happened just outside Booker Middle School in Sarasota at around 7:45 a.m. local time, when the mother dropped off her daughter in the right turn lane in front of the school.
The girl reportedly dropped her backpack, spilling some pens and markers under her mother’s large SUV, and when she went to retrieve them by crawling under the car, her mother started to pull away.
“She immediately stopped when she heard her child screaming,” Highway Patrol Trooper Kenn Watson told ABC Action News.
“Here we are, day one, and we’ve already had a tragedy,” Watson continued.
“We’re hoping this does not happen again, but we have to remember to have that good spatial awareness when you are anywhere around a school zone and most certainly when you are letting your kid out of your vehicle.”
The girl was airlifted to John Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg with critical injuries.
Neither her name nor the name of her mother have been released, and additional information is unavailable the investigation has been closed, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Following the accident, a message from the school’s principle, Lashawn Frost, was sent out to parents informing them of the terrible accident and reminding them to follow the school’s safety procedures.
“Please remember that students should not be dropped off in the middle of Myrtle Street,” said Frost, suggesting the girl had been dropped off on a street outside the school’s property. “This practice poses a significant risk to our students’ safety and the safety of others on the road.”
“You want to avoid being in a hurry and dropping off our kids in the turn lane when we should be directly in front of the school,” he continued. “This is a tragedy that 100 percent could have been avoided by simply paying a little more attention and not being in a hurry.”
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