KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – Police say a Knox County student was hit by a car while waiting for her school bus in a west Knox County neighborhood.

Earlier Tuesday, WVLT News met with Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler to discuss school safety ahead of the 2024-25 school year.

At the end of the interview, Kimberly Glenn, spokeswoman for the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, asked Sheriff Spangler to talk about safety in school zones and school buses. Two days later, the student was hit.

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Spangler told WVLT News that while the message was common sense to him, others needed to hear it, too.

“Like I said, it’s common sense that you pay attention, more than you normally would anywhere else, but obviously when you’re driving slower, you can react much quicker,” Spangler said. “Yes, we talk about it every year, we talk about this road safety every year, but apparently we have to remind people.”

KCSO and Knoxville police said they would deploy more deputies and officers in school zones to focus on speeding and inattentive drivers.

“It’s always because there are those inattentive drivers, you know, and they may think they’re paying attention, but in those two, three seconds they look down and suddenly they’re in a school zone, they slam on the brakes or something else more serious happens,” Spangler said.

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office was still investigating the accident but did not say whether or not speed played a role.

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