Officials: Elementary student, parent hit by school bus in Anderson Co.

ANDERSON COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – Officials are investigating a crash after a student and parent were hit by a school bus during pickup Thursday morning in Anderson County.

Anderson County School District Five confirmed with 7NEWS that a school bus was involved in a crash at Amber Drive near Snow Road.

“The preliminary investigation it looks like the student was struck kind of crossing in front of the bus. Normally the student at the bus stop enters where the door is,” said Kyle Newton, Assistant Superintendent Anderson District Five.

South Carolina Highway Patrol said a parent and child were both hit by the bus around 6:30 a.m.

According to the district, the bus made its normal stop on Amber Road and began to pull off after no students got on the bus.

As the bus pulled off, a student approached the vehicle from the opposite side and was hit by the bus, officials said.

“The student was struck by the bus and he was knocked to the ground, which is obviously scary in itself, but definitely not ran over,” said Newton.

Troopers said the parent was also hit, but all injuries are believed to be minor.

The school district said the student attends Midway Elementary School.

“I talked to the principal, and he sent something out this morning to faculty and staff just letting them know like, ‘hey we have a student that was struck this morning, everything looked to be okay,’” said Newton.

As it is still early in the school year, Anderson Five said they want to remind students, drivers and parents about bus safety.

“Take five big steps whenever you’re in front of the bus. You need to be about 10 feet ahead of the bus and try to maintain eye contact with the driver when you can. Another thing we tell students is if you drop a cellphone or if you drop your notebook or something don’t bend down to get it. Let your driver know, ‘hey, I’ve dropped something’ because visibility is different on a bus. It’s not like driving your personal vehicle,” said Newton.

Officials told 7NEWS bus drivers take professional development training throughout the year just like teachers.

“This situation looks like the student is going to be okay from what we hear, which is obviously the main thing that’s most important,” said Newton.

Newton said the district’s buses take 6,500 students a day to and from school.

“School buses are still the safest way to get to and from school. They’re about 77 times safer than if you ride a car. They’re big, they’re yellow. They’re built to transport students,” said Newton.

District leaders said the child’s mother took the student to the hospital to get checked out.

7NEWS will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.

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