A female Longwood University student was injured on Sunday, Sept. 29 when she reportedly hit a Farmville Area Bus (FAB) on her skateboard around 8:50 p.m., reported Doug Mooney, Chief of Police of the Farmville Police Department (FPD). Mooney said that the incident occurred at the intersection of Buffalo and St. George Streets.
According to Mooney, the cause of the accident was misconstrued when some witnesses claimed that the bus ran a stop sign.
However, the FPD retrieved the bus surveillance tapes and discovered that the bus did not disobey any traffic laws.
Mooney said it sounded like “somebody hit the side of the bus with a bat” when the student collided with the bus. In the tapes, Mooney said, students on the bus could be heard saying, “What was that?” when the incident occurred.
Mooney said the student allegedly left the scene of the accident. She later wen to the Centra Southside Hospital for treatment of what Mooney described as a "big gash on her leg." The injuries were reportedly non-life threatening.
The FAB driver was not sure what had happened at the time and reported the incident.
Mooney mentioned that a similar skateboarding accident occurred last year.
"People can't stop with skateboards,” said Mooney. While he said the woman’s injuries from this week’s incident were “bad enough,” it “concerns me that maybe somebody’s going to get hurt real bad.”
“I just stress for people to try and be as safe as they can,” Mooney said. “Stop at the stop signs the same way the cars are supposed to. If [there's] one thing that I could get across, that would be it."
Chief of Farmvile Police Department said, “It’s an unfortunate accident, an unfortunate issue that it happened ... She could have been killed.”
Longwood University Police Department Chief of Police Bob Beach said, “I know what the thrill is, getting on a skateboard, running from the top of Buffalo hill down to the bottom. I’m sure it’s a lot of fun and a thrill, but it’s dangerous. It’s in the street. Last I checked, skateboards don’t have brakes. "
Beach added, "You go through that stop sign, and somebody’s coming, whether they run the stop sign or whether they pull out from the stop, you’re in danger, and it’s endangering the person riding the skateboard and the elders around.”
With additional reporting by News Editor Michelle Goldchain
