STORM2K

Posted on Wed, Nov. 17, 2004


Backpack caught in door, Florida school girl dragged to her death

Associated Press


MARIANNA, Fla. - An 11-year-old girl died Wednesday of injuries suffered when her backpack got caught in a school bus door and she was dragged by the vehicle before falling free and being crushed by its tires.

Shelby Davis died a day after her father rushed her to a hospital after watching her get run over by the right rear tires of her school bus, Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Hugh Cutchens said.

Shelby was among 14 children, ages 5-16, being dropped off Tuesday by driver Harold Dean McCouty at a school bus stop near her rural home, an FHP report said.

McCouty failed to notice that the girl's backpack was hung up in the bus door and began driving away, the FHP report said.

The bus went 60 feet before Shelby was "dislodged" from her backpack and the bus ran over her pelvic area, the report said.

McCouty, 63, drove on for 1,600 feet - more than 1/3 of a mile or more than four football fields - before noticing that a backpack was stuck in the door, the report said.

He stopped the bus to locate the child, but her father, Mike Davis, had seen the accident from his front yard and had already scooped his daughter up to take her to a Jackson Hospital, the Jackson County Floridan reported. She was later airlifted to Shands University Hospital in Jacksonville, where she died.

Charges were pending the result of an investigation, Cutchens said.

How could that bus driver NOT KNOW that little girl was there??? This saddens me to no end!!

I have heard stories like this before, and it is heartbreaking. I just this minute watched my kids get on the bus and was thinking about this same type of accident, before I read this thread. Every time I put them on the bus, I pray that they will get through the day safely.

wow, that's not too far from where we live. a couple of hours.

in our school district, the bus drivers are always in a hurry. they drive like maniacs.

Very sad

Very sad... prayers to that family...

That's two school bus deaths in the last two weeks in Florida. We had one in Palm Beach last week, where a bus flipped over. Fortunately, there were only nine students on board or it would have been much worse. Witnesses said the driver ran a stop sign and was <b>well</b> over the speed limit.

That father is going to be haunted for years after witnessing this whole thing. Our children are the future, why aren't they better protected? I am fortunate that I don't need to put my kids on the bus....we live real close and I drive them. Its so sad.........prayers to the family.

How horrible!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been having such problems with my little guy on the bus. He is only five, and the older kids have been giving him a hard time. Ruffing up his hair, opening his backpack and throwing his stuff out. I have spoken with the driver, but that has gotten us no where. We have had problems with the buses before, stopping them from driving on I-95 at break neck speeds. Its disgusting the way some of these drivers drive.... I really wish they would do something about the bus situation.

My heart breaks for that family... I do not even want to imagine what they are going through.

The Big Dog wrote:That's two school bus deaths in the last two weeks in Florida. We had one in Palm Beach last week, where a bus flipped over. Fortunately, there were only nine students on board or it would have been much worse. Witnesses said the driver ran a stop sign and was <b>well</b> over the speed limit.

That wretch of a bus driver should be tried, found guilty and sentenced to at least 50 years in prison. That's a school bus with OUR KIDS we're talking about here.


-Jeb