A Maryland family this week won their lawsuit against the Prince George’s County Board of Education and were awarded $90 million.
According to a Washington Post report on the case, 13-year-old Ashley Davis died in 2009 while crossing the street to reach a school bus stop. A car traveling down the road hit her, a minivan, and a 17-year-old boy on Brinkley Road in Temple Hills, Maryland. Davis died from her injuries weeks later.
The six-member jury handed down the $90 million wrongful-death verdict after determining that the school board did not provide a safe bus stop for Davis. Davis’ family had accused her bus driver of not stopping at his designated stop, forcing Davis and other children to catch another school bus further down the road, where they would have to cross the street. According to the Post report, complaints of late school buses and “unsafe” routes to bus stops are nothing new for parents in the area.
The school board is expected to appeal the decision.