Student cheats death following accident
PHILIPSBURG — An 18 year old St. Maarten Academy student nearly lost his life while trying to get off a school bus when he was hit by a car traveling at high speed on Bishop Hill Road at about 6:30 on Tuesday morning. The female bus driver when questioned said that she had deployed the stop sign and the flashing lights to indicate that she was stopping.
“I had pulled the bus diagonally across the road as it is done, to allow the students to enter safely. However the driver of the white Getz who was traveling very fast tried to overtake the bus and hit Rowin Longville as he was getting off the bus, tossing him several feet from the bus,” she said.
The ambulance and the police arrived on the scene shortly afterwards and the youth was attended to by the paramedics on the scene and taken to the St. Maarten Medical Center for further treatment.
Meanwhile, the police in their investigation found that both drivers were wrong. According to them, the school bus was wrong to pull diagonally across the road since they are not allowed to block both sides of the road. The driver of the white Getz was apparently wrong for causing the accident.
The parent of the child when contacted said that her son was examined thoroughly by the medical professionals at the Medical Center and apart for some bruises about his body he apparently did not sustain any major injuries.
Several years ago a similar incident occurred on the Sucker Garden Road where another bus had stopped to put off a female student when a truck driver tried to overtake the bus and killed the student on the spot. After so many years it remains a grim reminder of what happens when drivers do not adhere to the rules.
Photo captions: Student Rowin Longville being attended to by ambulance personnel (top photo). Photo of the Hyundai Getz that hit the student (middle photo). The driver (man) of the Getz. Photo provided to StMaartenNews.com.
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Follow-up story:
PSVE student still suffering from severe pains following accident
