5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

Finding Meaning -- and a Cause -- in Our Son's Death
By: Lori Key

(Jan. 22) -- On a cold Friday afternoon, Dec. 11, 2009, my life was forever changed.

The day started like any other, as we got our family up and each of our children to school. The afternoon rolled around, and I waited, as I did every school day, for my precious 5-year-old son, Nathaniel Glenn Key, to hop off the bus and come happily home.

Nathan Key was killed as he was getting off his school bus by a driver who decided to pass the stopped bus.But that day, a driver decided to recklessly pass and ignore the school bus' flashing red lights and stop sign and drive around it.

He hit and killed Nathan, just a few feet from our house, just days before Christmas.

The pain my husband and I have experienced is unbelievable and seemingly unendurable. Our memories of him are too few. I would give anything just to have him back in my life, if only for a moment.

But we have endured, barely.

In the natural course of events, life develops a cycle of normalcy. As part of life's cycle, belabored justifications of death are occasionally used for comfort when we lose our elderly friends or family, but such subtle consolation does not easily extend to the death of a child. The old expect to die and leave their children behind, and we were no different.

For us, the world has become a much darker place, with dimly lit mornings that seem less smiling. In our small community, aching emptiness abounds, and sympathetic hearts blindly search for an answer to perhaps the most difficult of life's questions.

It has now become the goal of my family -- our obsession -- to make sure this type of accident never happens again. No other family should have to suffer from what we have experienced.

And though I'm painfully aware that no law can prevent each and every accident, I am dedicated to making sure that something positive comes from Nathan's death.

What we have learned since has been deeply troubling. Every school day, thousands upon thousands of cars drive around stopped school buses. In Virginia alone it happens about 600,000 times a year, according to one study. A New York study found that 50,000 times a day drivers didn't stop for a school bus that was letting children on or off.

As a result, 18 children -- most of them under age 8 -- were killed last school year while getting on or off a school bus, according to a national survey by the Kansas State Department of Education.

One of the big problems is that in many states the penalty for failing to stop for a school bus is weak and enforcement is lax. In my home state of Mississippi, a violator faces only a small fine -- in the rare event that he or she is caught red-handed.

This makeshift memorial to Nathan stands on the side of the road where he was killed.This madness has to stop.

My husband and I have been working with Mississippi Sen. Chris McDaniel to develop a comprehensive school bus safety act -- called "Nathan's Law."

This law would, among other things, raise the fine for a first offense to $500 for passing a stopped school bus, in addition to license suspension for a period of 30 days and discretionary imprisonment for up to 48 hours.

For any subsequent violation, the fine would climb to $800, plus a 90-day license suspension and the possibility of one year in prison. A driver who injured a child while passing a stopped bus could face up to five years in jail.

The law would also encourage a statewide marketing campaign to educate our citizens concerning the new law and the importance of school bus safety. More important, it would authorize school districts to mount cameras on their stop arms to help catch lawbreakers.

This law isn't just needed in my home state. Tougher penalties and better enforcement are needed around the country.

For the sake and safety of other children, we must take action to help prevent this type of event from ever happening again.

It's my prayer that something positive will come from such a senseless tragedy. I hope that Nathan's life and death will serve to inspire safety reforms all across our country.

Perhaps then we will be able to see God's purpose, even in our heartbreak.

Lori Key lives in Laurel, Miss.

CLICK HERE FOR ARTICLE AND PICTURE OF NATHAN:

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

So tragic. There is NO excuse for passing a stopped school bus. NONE.

Whenever I see people do that, I honk my horn LOUDLY to alert everyone. It is so dangerous, and I'm always amazed that someone thinks getting somewhere 30 seconds earlier is more important than someone's life.

My heart BLEEDS for these parents.

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

I really feel like there should be a law that everyone in that neighborhood should be allowed to just beat that driver until they see what a selfish, self-absorbed a$$hole they are that they couldn't wait the 5 minutes.

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

To add insult to injury - it is not like he was on the other side of the street and could plead the "i didn't realize the bus was stopping - i would have stopped but didn't realize" -- he was BEHIND the farking bus and just SPED around it!!!! Just horrific and such a disregard for the Law and other people's lives!!

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

this is sick.

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

My stomach hurts after reading this.

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

I truly just could not imagine the pain and grief these parents are feeling over this SENSELESS death of this adorable little boy. People are so carless when driving and it makes me nuts

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

i can't even read this story. this is horrible.

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

This disgusts me. I hope this punished to the fullest extent of the law.

When I was in HS a friend of mine was hit by a car who was behind the school bus, that also was impatient and went around. He was in a coma for weeks, went thru months and months of rehabilitation, and part of his brain was removed and he had partial paralysis on one side of his body.

Because the driver didn't kill him, they got off with a slap on the wrist. I was so apalled at the situation. How someone was that impatient to not wait for a school bus, is beyond me.

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

So sad!
My mom used to drive a bus! She came home quite a few times pizzed off at idiotic drivers!
Finally, cops started cracking down! I think they need to crack down even MORE!

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

Posted by Sweets13

My stomach hurts after reading this.

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

Awful.

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

That poor family. What a horrible tragedy.

I have learned my lesson though. We live on a dead end street, and lately to pick my DD up I stand at the end of our driveway and let her run to me. I won't be doing that anymore.

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

that makes me incredibly sad

They should start putting those red light type cameras on buses, so if the lights are on and a car passes, they would at least get a ticket- maybe it would make people think twice before passing a bus

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

Posted by pinkandblue

Posted by Kara

So tragic. There is NO excuse for passing a stopped school bus. NONE.

I agree completely...NOTHING is that urgent that you cannot wait...

again,, it is the "me, me, me" attitude

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

That just made me cry. Seriously. I can't imagine the pain of those parents. I am continuously amazed by the selfishness of people who live with a "me me me" attitude and now this poor child is dead because of that.

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

OMG, I am crying as I read that, what a horrible, needless tragedy. That poor little boy....

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

So sad, I cannot imagine how these parents are coping with this tragedy!

My Mom used to drive a bus and I know that if the drivers see it, they can write down the license plate number of the car and turn it in. I guess the county mails them the ticket?? They do this all the time but they have to be pretty quick about it because the only have a couple of seconds to catch the plate numbers....

The fines for this should be astronomical!!!

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

People have NO respect. It's awful. That poor boy and his family.

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

I have never done this nor seen anyone do it. What a horrific tragedy.

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

Yeah, someone went around me and then around the school bus the other day..... I was shocked.

I have to say I have noticed lately that the drivers where I live are totally out of control.

God Bless this beautiful little boy.

Re: 5 Year Old hit & killed by driver who went around school bus:

I was reading this article about it, and the driver actually fled the scene and was followed by a witness. How DISGUSTING! He said to police, that he wanted to get home and didnt want to wait.

http://www.leadercall.com/homepage/local_story_351112608.html

How completely senseless and 100% preventable. I cant even imagine the pain this family is going through, I cant even wrap my mind around what that must be like.