Student Struck by Car at School Bus Stop

RALEIGH, N.C. — A student who was hit by a car while waiting at his bus stop on Tuesday morning is recovering.

Troopers told WRAL that Henry Cruz-Orellana, 11, was standing at the side of the roadway at around 7:30 a.m. when a vehicle driven by a 16-year-old motorist tried to pass other cars, ran off the road, hit a concrete divider, and lost control of the vehicle. Cruz-Orellana told WTVD that the motorist got out of the car and apologized. He told WRAL that when he saw the car driving onto the pavement, he tried to run, and that the car “hit both my feet and I tumbled over the car.”

Cruz-Orellana suffered non-life-threatening injuries, including a fractured knee and several bruises and scrapes, and was taken to the hospital, according to WRAL. He also lost a tooth in the crash, according to WTVD, and is now at home recovering.

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol told WTVD that the motorist is charged with speeding and improper passing, and that he nearly hit another boy as well.

The parents of both Cruz-Orellana and the boy who was almost hit are asking Wake County Public Schools to move the bus stop to a street inside their neighborhood. A spokeswoman for the district told WRAL that the district is conducting an investigation and reviewing the safety of the bus stop where the incident occurred.