Seven-year-old Aiden remains in a medically induced coma after a Ford F-150 struck him on a Georgia road as he was trying to get to school. The crash was devastating, but preliminary findings from Rome police do not point to wrongdoing by the pickup driver.
Police say the driver was not speeding, showed no signs of impairment, remained at the scene, and is not facing charges. Aiden also was not crossing in front of a stopped school bus or trying to board one when he was hit.
Instead, newly obtained school-bus records have filled in a crucial part of what happened that morning. Aiden’s assigned bus was scheduled to pick him up about 40 minutes before the crash.
The bus later came back through the area on the other side of the road, but there was no designated stop there. Police say witnesses described a practice in which students who miss their normal pickup sometimes wait for the bus when it loops back. Rome City Schools says students are not permitted to do that.
A Different Stop
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The crash happened shortly after 7 a.m. on Aug. 21 on Chateau Drive in Rome, Georgia.
According to CBS Atlanta, Rome police said a white Ford F-150 was traveling north when Aiden entered the roadway near the entrance to 48 Chateau Drive.
Police specifically clarified that Aiden was running toward a bus stop. He was not boarding a school bus, nor was he crossing near a stopped bus with its lights and stop arm activated.
A Floyd County police officer happened to be traveling on Chateau Drive and was the first officer to arrive. Emergency crews took Aiden to Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center before he was flown to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Scottish Rite Hospital.
The roadway was wet following storms earlier that morning.
No Charges
One of the immediate questions surrounding the crash was what happened to the F-150 driver.
The answer, at least based on the investigation so far, is that police have not identified evidence supporting charges.
WSB-TV reported that Rome police said the driver was not speeding, stayed at the scene, and is not facing charges. Police also found no indication that the driver was impaired.
That distinction matters because Aiden’s family’s fundraiser initially described the F-150 as speeding. Police have since said their preliminary findings indicate otherwise, so we are using the police finding here.
The investigation into the crash itself remains open.
Forty Minutes Earlier
A follow-up report provided a clearer picture of why Aiden may have been in the road in the first place.
WSB-TV obtained Aiden’s school-bus route records and found that his scheduled stop on Chateau Drive was at 6:21 a.m.
The crash happened around 7 a.m.
The route records show that the bus eventually loops back through the area on the opposite side of Chateau Drive. There is no designated bus stop there.
Rome police told the station that witnesses said students who miss their regular pickup sometimes cross the road and wait for the bus to return.
Police said Aiden was in the roadway running toward his older brother when the F-150 hit him.
The Bus Rule
Rome City Schools told WSB-TV that students are not allowed to board a bus in the manner witnesses described.
The district’s transportation policy says students who miss their bus should not walk to another bus stop. It also requires a parent or guardian to be present at pickup and drop-off for children 8 years old and younger.
There is a reason school transportation programs treat an unexpected boarding location differently from an ordinary stop. A driver who has already completed a stop is not necessarily expecting another child to approach the bus somewhere else along the route.
Georgia law has also put greater attention on where school-bus stops are placed.
Under Addy’s Law, which took effect in 2024, public school systems must consider routes that do not require students boarding a bus to cross roads with speed limits of 40 mph or higher.
The law was named for 8-year-old Adalynn Pierce, who was killed after being struck while crossing a road to board her school bus.
Nothing currently available indicates that Aiden’s assigned stop violated that law. The location he was apparently trying to reach when he was struck was not a designated stop at all.
Aiden’s Fight
Aiden’s injuries are extensive.
According to a fundraiser organized for his family, he was intubated and placed in a medically induced coma after suffering a diffuse axonal brain injury.
His family also reported a severe ligament injury where his skull and neck connect that requires surgery, along with a broken pelvis and ribs and fractures to his collarbone and wrist.
The fundraiser says Aiden’s parents have remained at his bedside while also caring for their 13-year-old and 7-month-old children and dealing with medical, travel, and household expenses.
In its latest report, WSB-TV said Aiden’s aunt told the station that his condition worsened overnight Thursday. His family remains hopeful as he continues fighting to recover.