Alleged distracted driver hits woman, child at school bus in Franklin Twp., NJ

A delivery driver from Philadelphia has been charged after she struck two people at a school bus in Gloucester County last week.

The incident happened Wednesday afternoon, December 11th, around 4:30 in the 1800 block of Grant Avenue in Franklin Township.

The Franklin Township Police Department says an investigation revealed that a school bus from their district was stopped on Grant Avenue with its red lights flashing and a stop sign displayed. A 6-year-old student had just gotten off the bus and was walking across the street with her 50-year-old grandmother.

From a press release,

As they began crossing the road, a vehicle driven by Laura Mayo Pulgarin of Philadelphia, was traveling east on Grant Avenue. As the vehicle approached, the bus driver attempted to alert the on-coming vehicle by honking the horn on the bus several times. The vehicle disregarded the bus's flashing lights and stop sign and struck the adult female and child.

Police say Pulgarin was driving her personal vehicle, working as a delivery driver for a third-party Amazon delivery service, and appeared to have been distracted by the map feature on her cell phone.

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Pulgarin, who is 22 years old, has been charged with two counts of assault by auto.

The public is reminded that charges are accusations and all persons are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.