MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 (BYRON, CA) —- It is with great regret that we report the passing of one of Discovery Bay’s children. A 12-year old student, Burgess Hu, was riding his bike to school at Excelsior Middle School his morning shortly before 8:00 a.m. when he was struck and killed by a black SUV. The driver of the SUV was turning right out of the middle school onto northbound Byron Highway. The child was reported deceased at the scene.
The driver of the black SUV was a parent of an Excelsior Middle School student. She had just dropped off her child and was making the difficult right turn onto the busy Byron Highway. The Sheriff reported that the driver initally thought she had driven over a ball.
The parents arrived on the scene shortly after the accident. Grief Counselors were called to the school to help with speaking to students, teachers, and families about the passing of this well-liked young man.
Excelsior Middle School had a new entrance to the school added to the back side of the school property just last year, off of the quiet Byer Road, because of the concerns over students entering along Byron Highway.
Candlelight vigils: Monday @ 7:00 p.m. @ Timber Point elementary and Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. @ Excelsior Middle School.
Reblogged this on Ari Almaneih & Susie Almaneih and commented:
Very Tragic News for the Families and Community
What’s tragic is that people will continue to drive with their phones in front of their face while exiting parking lots and driving down dangerous rural highways. That is what we will continue to face without real awareness and less apathy towards others on the road.
How do we even know that this is the case. I did not read anywhere that stated that the driver was on their cell phone. This is so not the time for pointing fingers but a time for prayer for both families.
The sheriff has not said she was on her cell phone.
What are you talking about? No one said she was on the phone.
Wow Jayson that is pretty presumptuous of you to insinuate that this is what happened here. All tragedy’s like this one can occur with or without cell phone involvement.
nowhere does it say that. whats tragic is the ignorance of people like you in this world.
I’ll stick up for you Jayson. It’s a likely conclusion, especially given that:
1. It is so common today
and
2.: She apparently didn’t even see the child. A ball? If her eyes had been on the road, she would have seen him.
If not a phone, then there was LIKELY some other pointless distraction. Rarely do people take seriously the act of driving anymore.
my deepest sympathies and prayers go out to the family of the young boy AND to the driver. This is an unimaginable tragedy.
People will always be trolls and point the blame without knowing. I feel for ALL involved in this tragedy and their families..
I drove past this accident this morning about 10-15 minutes after it happened and I just broke down in tears. While I was on the school board (after our community passed the measure C bond), there was nothing more important to me than safe routes to school and moving the entrance to Excelsior Middle School because it was so inherently dangerous. I saw many near misses and a few accidents over the years I was driving my children there. Clearly, moving the entrance wasn’t enough…we still need to insist on safe routes to school, hopefully including bike paths!!! I knew this young man and my heart is broken for his family and also for the driver. No matter what the outcome of the investigation, the ultimate outcome will not change. We need to be supportive at this tragic time and not judgmental. If you are able, do what you can to make a difference in your community to help keep all our children safe. Bless all touched by this terrible accident.
Prayers for both families….
I think people are reading too much into the cell phone thing. Nothing was mentioned. In a SUV it can be very hard to see. And that is a very bad area for seeing in general. It is easy to hate the one that did it, however; I don’t think that was their intent and they are most likely grief stricken and guilt ridden over this as well. Not to mention that everyone will hate them, everyone will hate their kid and a lot of stuff will be thrown around. There is no need to add to it gossip to make your cause for not using cellphones while driving. If that were the case, it would be a little different, but that was not reported.
Prayers to Burgess and his family. Accidents happen and Byron Highway is just too unsafe for our children to ride bikes on.
Praying for all parties involved. This has really taken a toll on the students and staff as well. As a parent, I can’t imagine how these parents feel. As a driver, I think that this is all of our worst nightmares. Prayers of peace and love for the community.
Zero faith with kids on bikes vs live traffic. It’s not a matter of if it will happen rather than when it happens. I practically drive crawling around campus, just too much activity. God Bless this family, and the driver also regardless of fault.
My heart breaks for the family of this child and for the driver and her family. Both families need all of our support and love.