TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Police said one child was injured when an SUV slammed into a school bus Monday morning. The accident sparked concerns from parents and drivers about an intersection they say has been a problem.
According to TPD, the SUV hit the school bus a little after 7 a.m. Monday. The crash happened at the intersection of N. Rome Avenue and W. Columbus Drive.
Video from Action Air One showed the SUV hit the bus on the left side at the intersection.
Police said one child on the bus was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
Alexis Perry said her kids were involved in the accident Monday morning. Perry said she took them to the hospital as a precaution but that they were okay.
"This intersection is very terrible," said Perry. "A lot of accidents happen on this corner. It's hard to make a left turn, traffic be backed up. It's hard to make a right turn."
ABC Action News watched firsthand as drivers stopped on Rome Avenue, then inched up to see the cars coming down Columbus.
"Stop sign right here, you gotta go out about 10 yards," said Vincent Stubbs.
"In one word: dangerous," said Rico Carter. "You gotta like have patience. If you don't, you can get hit."
ABC Action News reached out to both the city and the county about these concerns.
A county official explained Columbus is a county road, saying that per a mutual agreement, the city designs the road network, including where stop signs and lights are going to go, and the county pays for it.
The county said if there are increased crashes or a repeated problem in a certain spot, the city can do a study and look at the intersection to see what can be done. Then, the county can take that study, review it, and make any necessary changes.
The county official added that there’s also right now an unfunded repaving project on Columbus where that intersection hits, which could include some design elements like sidewalks and crosswalks.
"Hopefully, they get, I don't know, stop signs or traffic lights, something there to help prevent the accidents," said Perry.
A city of Tampa spokesperson said that the area will be part of the West River BUILD grant project, adding that along with building a multi-modal path along the river, the city will be constructing complete street enhancements on adjacent streets in the area.
"Hopefully, y'all get some help on this corner here," said Perry.
ABC Action News also asked Hillsborough County Schools if they had considered changing the bus route to avoid that intersection.
The district said any time there's an accident, they do an incident review to find out what happened and if there's any training or other follow-up that they can do.
