PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report of a school bus that struck and killed a 7-year-old boy in South Jersey last month.
According to the report, the school bus was making a right turn when it struck and killed 7-year-old Hunter Smith in Gibbstown on the afternoon of May 8.
The 48-year-old driver had stopped to unload some students at the corner of Bennett Street and Ashton Drive, the report says. Hunter and a 10-year-old girl got off the bus and stopped at the corner, then started to cross the street. That’s when the driver started making a right turn onto Ashton Drive and struck the boy.
NTSB issues its preliminary report for the ongoing safety investigation into the May 8 school bus collision with a student pedestrian in Gibbstown, New Jersey:https://t.co/pqMR6f5n9A pic.twitter.com/ED0FcH8iRz
— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) June 4, 2026
The girl was not injured.
The report doesn’t explain why the driver didn’t see the boy or wait for him to cross.
Bus company Holcomb said it has launched an internal review to determine what happened and prevent future tragedies.
