It has been a deadly week around the country for students waiting at their morning bus stops. Five children have been killed, hit by cars, in three different states.
Then Friday morning, a 6-year-old was hit while crossing the street to his bus stop in Benbrook, at the corner of Bellaire Drive South and Crosscreek Lane.
It was 7:15 a.m. and still dark out, when Benbrook police said a car drove past a stopped school bus and hit the boy. He is OK, but his mother has a message to share.
Rachel Rogers and her 6-year-old Aden make the same walk to the school bus stop every morning. But this Friday morning was very different.
"I was like, 'Alright dude,' looking, making sure no cars," Rachel Rogers said. "So I was like, 'OK dude, go ahead.' So he kind of runs out and I didn't see the car coming. But it just ahh, I'm still like..."
She can't even say the words, but Aden can.
"The car just hit me," Aden said.
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His mother added, "He got hit on his right side and he like flew three feet. She had to be going 30 miles an hour."
Rogers said the driver blew right past the stopped school bus, with its flashing lights. Miraculously Aden is OK, with just a few scratches on his face and bruises on his knees.
"He had so many angels around him that he had a bubble," Rogers said.
She knows how different it could have been. Rogers has watched the tragedy unfold around the country this week, five children hit and killed at their bus stops in Pennsylvania, Mississippi and Indiana, three more seriously hurt in Florida. Investigators blame distracted driving.
"What is going on with these people around school buses?" Rogers said. "I don't understand. Slow down, stop."
It's a lesson so clear, even a 6-year-old understands.
"When you see a school bus there, that means you have to stop because there can be kids walking there," Aden said.
Tonight, Rogers will hold her son even closer, and pray for those who can't.
"It could have been different," she said.
The driver did stop to help and at this point she has not been arrested, though Rogers wants her held accountable. Benbrook police said the investigation is ongoing and they're working with the district attorney to decide what, if any, charges she should face.
