A 14-year-old boy was hospitalized after being run over by a school bus at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, on Thursday, October 15, 2026. The disturbing accident occurred just weeks after Sexner Injury Lawyers LLC and their affiliated legal team, helped secure a $50 million settlement involving another 14-year-old student who was run over by a school bus at another Illinois high school.
Although the circumstances and reported injuries are not identical, the similarities between these incidents raise important questions about student safety around moving school buses, particularly in areas where children may be approaching vehicles during after-school activities.
What Happened at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire?
According to reporting by the Lake and McHenry County Scanner and the Daily Herald, Lincolnshire police and emergency responders were called to Stevenson High School at approximately 5:30 p.m. on October 15.
Police reported that the 14-year-old male student was running toward a moving school bus when he slipped and slid underneath the vehicle near its rear passenger-side wheels. The bus then ran over his legs.
When officers arrived, the student was conscious and breathing. Paramedics transported him to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville. Police initially described his injuries as non-life-threatening, although further information concerning the extent of his injuries and his recovery was not publicly available as of October 16.
Stevenson High School Principal Troy Gobble reportedly contacted families Thursday evening regarding the serious collision, expressing concern for the injured student and his family.
The Lincolnshire Police Department is continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the accident.
At Sexner Injury Lawyers LLC, our attorneys represent children who have suffered serious injuries in transportation accidents. Families seeking information about their legal rights can consult our school bus accident lawyers for a free and confidential consultation by calling (312) 243-9922.
A Strikingly Similar School Bus Accident Resulted in a $50 Million Settlement
The Stevenson High School accident bears a troubling resemblance to another Illinois school bus accident that our legal team recently handled.
On October 18, 2024, a 14-year-old girl was seriously injured at Bartlett High School while school buses were arriving in the afternoon pickup area. As a bus approached, students were moving alongside the vehicle. Our young client fell to the pavement, and the school bus's right rear tire passed over her body.
She suffered catastrophic and permanent injuries, ultimately undergoing more than 40 surgical procedures. Her injuries left her primarily dependent upon a wheelchair and requiring extensive assistance with everyday activities. She is expected to require care throughout the remainder of her life.
Sexner Injury Lawyers LLC, working with co-counsel as part of the legal team representing the injured girl, helped obtain a $50 million settlement. The settlement was reached before trial and subsequently approved by the School District U-46 Board of Education in September 2026.
The lawsuit alleged that students had regularly entered the bus lane and approached moving buses during pickup operations. It further alleged that school personnel knew or should have known about these unsafe practices and failed to adequately address them.
Claims were asserted against both the school bus driver and School District U-46, including allegations involving the driver's conduct and the supervision of students in the pickup area.
Because the case was settled rather than decided by a jury, those allegations were not adjudicated at trial, and the settlement was not a judicial finding of liability.
The circumstances of this substantial recovery are described in our detailed account of the Bartlett school bus accident and resulting settlement.
What the Stevenson and Bartlett School Bus Accidents Have in Common
Both accidents involved 14-year-old students who fell dangerously close to moving school buses and were subsequently run over near the rear wheels.
In both instances, the students were outside the school bus rather than riding inside it. This distinction is significant because some of the greatest dangers involving school buses arise when children are approaching, boarding, exiting, or otherwise moving near these large vehicles.
However, important differences remain. The Bartlett incident involved catastrophic injuries requiring lifelong care, while the Stevenson student's injuries were initially described by police as non-life-threatening. The full circumstances of the Stevenson accident have not yet been established, and no determination of legal responsibility should be drawn simply because the events appear similar.
Nevertheless, the Stevenson accident highlights an important safety issue that was also central to our earlier litigation: what precautions should be taken when school personnel and transportation providers know that students may move unpredictably around school buses?
School Bus Safety Involves More Than Telling Children Not to Run
Children and teenagers may become distracted, hurry toward a bus, misjudge its movement, or approach a vehicle before it has stopped. For that reason, safe transportation procedures should account for foreseeable student behavior, rather than depend entirely upon students always exercising perfect judgment.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration emphasizes that children are particularly vulnerable when approaching or leaving a school bus. Its safety recommendations instruct students to remain a safe distance from the vehicle and wait until the bus has stopped completely before approaching to board.
Similarly, the Illinois Professional School Bus Driver Training Curriculum instructs drivers to approach waiting students with extreme care, continually check their mirrors, and ensure students do not approach for boarding until the bus has stopped and its service door has opened.
These safety principles are important because a bus driver's field of vision can be limited by the vehicle's size, and children moving alongside a bus may enter areas that are difficult to observe.
Preventing these incidents may require a combination of student instruction, appropriate supervision, safe boarding arrangements, driver training, and consistent enforcement of transportation procedures.
What Should Investigators Examine Following the Stevenson Accident?
Although police have released preliminary information about how the student came to be underneath the bus, a complete investigation may need to address additional questions:
- Where was the student positioned before he began running toward the bus?
- Was the bus approaching a designated boarding area, or was it engaged in another movement on school property?
- Could the driver see the student approaching the vehicle, either directly or through the mirrors?
- Were school employees or transportation personnel supervising the area?
- What procedures were in place to prevent students from approaching moving buses?
- Were those procedures being followed, and had there been previous incidents or warnings concerning similar student behavior?
- Do surveillance cameras, bus-mounted cameras, or other recordings show the sequence of events?
These are investigative questions, not accusations that Stevenson High School, its employees, the driver, or the transportation provider acted improperly. Whether any person or entity bears legal responsibility will depend upon the evidence and applicable Illinois law.
In serious child injury cases, evidence such as surveillance recordings, witness statements, driver training records, transportation policies, and prior safety complaints can be critical. Some recordings are retained for limited periods, making prompt preservation particularly important.
Can a School or Transportation Provider Be Liable When a Student Runs Toward a Bus?
The fact that a student ran toward a school bus does not, by itself, resolve whether anyone else may have been negligent.
In Illinois, responsibility for an accident involving a child can depend upon multiple factors, including the child's age and conduct, the circumstances of the accident, whether the danger was foreseeable, what precautions were reasonably available, and whether a responsible party breached an applicable legal duty.
Potential claims involving public schools and their employees may also be affected by statutory immunities and other special legal requirements. The standards applicable to a particular school district, employee, bus driver, or private transportation contractor may differ depending upon the facts.
Our Bartlett case illustrates why an investigation may extend beyond the actions of a school bus driver to examine whether unsafe patterns of student behavior were known and whether adequate precautions had been taken.
At this stage, there is insufficient publicly available information to reach those conclusions concerning the Stevenson accident.
Protecting Children Around School Buses
The October 15 incident at Stevenson High School is another reminder that a school bus can present a serious danger to children standing or moving nearby, even when the vehicle is traveling slowly.
While school buses are generally a safe means of transportation, the moments when children are approaching or leaving them require particular attention. Students should be instructed to remain clear of moving buses, and adults responsible for school transportation should evaluate whether their procedures adequately address predictable risks.
Our thoughts are with the injured Stevenson student and his family, and we hope he makes a full recovery.
Experienced Representation for Serious School Bus Injuries
Sexner Injury Lawyers LLC represents injured children and their families in Chicago, Lake County, Cook County, throughout Illinois and across the country.
Our legal team's recent $50 million school bus settlement demonstrates our experience handling complex cases involving serious injuries to children, school transportation procedures, allegations of negligent supervision, and the long-term consequences of devastating accidents.
Every case is different, and a previous settlement does not guarantee any particular result in another matter. The circumstances of an accident, the extent of the injuries, available evidence, applicable law, and other factors must be independently evaluated.
If your child has been seriously injured in an accident involving a school bus, contact Sexner Injury Lawyers LLC at (312) 243-9922 for a free and confidential consultation. There is no attorney fee unless compensation is successfully recovered.
