Student Transported To Hospital After Being Injured Exiting School Bus

HEBER CITY, Utah — A 6-year-old girl is home from the hospital and a bus driver is on administrative leave, after authorities say a school bus dragged her up to 15 feet down the shoulder of Highway 40.

Utah Highway Patrol said at around 3:45p.m. Monday the girl’s backpack or something attached to it got trapped inside the bus doors after she stepped off the bus.

KSLTV spoke to the first grader and her father at their home. She was in good spirits but was wearing a sling, and had scrapes and bruises on her head, arm and leg.

A 6 yr old girl is back home from the hospital after UHP says her school bus dragged her up to 15 ft down this shoulder off of hghwy 40 north of #Heber. The district has placed the driver on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation. @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/QNQvbxx80x

— Matt Rascon (@MattRasconNews) April 16, 2019

Her father didn’t want to be identified and was not at the bus stop when the incident happened. He said his daughter was the last one off the bus.

The bus driver closed the doors and took off, apparently unaware that the girl had not cleared the door. Moments later thought, the driver put on the brakes.

“Especially on highway 40. It’s a pretty busy highway,” UHP Sergeant Steve Matthews said. “It’s good that [driver] noticed it that quickly before getting back into traffic.”

Both the school district and UHP are investigating.

Today, upon exiting the school bus, a student received non-life-threatening injuries. The student was transported to Heber Valley Hospital. Wasatch County School District and Utah Highway Patrol are currently investigating the incident and the driver has been placed on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the investigation.

The safety and well-being of our 7,000 students is the number one priority of Wasatch County School District. Our thoughts are with the student and her family.

-Statement from Wasatch County School District