Bus Accident Critically Injuries Minor

Christina Medlin

Contributor

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Monday, April 9, Anusha Vasudeva was struck by a minivan Monday morning while running to her bus stop in Morrisville.

In NC under the doctrine of contributory negligence, a child between the ages of 7 and 14 is presumed to be incapable of contributory negligence. This presumption may be overcome by evidence that the child did not use the care which a child of its age, capacity, discretion, knowledge, and experience would ordinarily have exercised under the same or similar circumstances. A child must exercise care and prudence equal to his capacity. If the child fails to exercise such care and the failure is one of the proximate causes of the injuries in suit, the child cannot recover.

The minivan struck the child about 6:10 a.m. near the intersection of Gratiot Drive and Morrisville-Carpenter Road.
The child's father drove up to the intersection and let his daughter out so that she could cross Morrisville-Carpenter Road to her bus stop, Gross said. "She looked to her right and saw her school bus about 300 yards down the road," Gross said. "She failed to look to her left, darted out into the road and was hit by a minivan."
The minivan was traveling 15 mph below the posted 45 mph speed limit, but the impact of the collision still damaged the minivan's hood and windshield, police reported.

In the bus accident that has critically injured 12 year old Anusha Vasudeva, the defense from the evidence has to show that the plaintiff failed to exercise the degree of care which an 12 year old ordinarily prudent child with physical and mental attributes of a 12 year old would have exercised under the circumstances and, if so, did her failure to do so become one of the proximate causes of the plaintiff's injury? If the factfinder decides that little Anusha Vasudeva, was only 1% liable for her injuries she will recover nothing!