A 69-year-old Margate man is dead after a Broward County school bus struck him in the pre-dawn darkness of a district parking lot in Pompano Beach, and investigators say the facility's overhead lights were not illuminated at the time. Alfred Desmandes died at Broward Health North Medical Center after being hit by the bus at the district's North Area Bus Terminal earlier this week.
The crash happened around 5:29 a.m. Wednesday at 2251 NW 18th Street, the address of the bus terminal, according to a Broward Sheriff's Office statement relayed by Boca Post. The site has gas pumps and is a district bus lot, per the same outlet. Driver Steven Becker had just finished fueling his bus on the east side of the building and was making a U-turn to head west when Desmandes walked southwest across the lot and into the bus's path, investigators told Boca Post. The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported that Desmandes was struck by the front driver's side of the bus and that Desmandes was also a school bus driver.
Becker told BSO detectives he never saw Desmandes because the lot's overhead lights were not on, according to a BSO statement reported by BocaNewsNow. Pompano Beach Fire Rescue transported Desmandes to Broward Health North Medical Center after the crash, and the Broward County Medical Examiner's Office notified BSO traffic homicide detectives on September 10 that he had died from his injuries, per reporting from Margate Talk.
Speed and Impairment Ruled Out
BSO traffic homicide detectives, who are leading the investigation, have ruled out both excessive speed and driver impairment as contributing factors in the collision, according to an update published by Deerfield News. The lot's lighting remains an unresolved detail in the case, with no explanation yet offered for why the terminal's lights were off during active early-morning fueling operations.
The Broward school district responded to questions about the crash by email Friday, and district spokesperson Keyla Concepción provided a statement from Superintendent Howard Hepburn, the Sun Sentinel reported. Margate Talk notes that the district has been expanding its bus fleet in recent years to include zero-emission electric vehicles alongside its diesel buses.
A Sprawling Bus Network Across Broward
Broward County Public Schools' Student Transportation & Fleet Services oversees the district's bus network, according to Public School Review. The system's more than 1,000 buses travel over 16 million miles a year, ferrying more than 73,000 students to 326 schools across one of the nation's largest public school systems.
Broward's school bus drivers are required to complete 70 hours of total training — 40 hours mandated by Florida regulations and 30 additional hours required by the district — covering vehicle handling, safety protocols and student management, district officials told Hoodline's earlier coverage of the district's driver preparation program. Drivers also complete route dry runs as part of their preparation.
Florida's Broader Pedestrian Safety Problem
The crash also lands against a grim statewide backdrop. Florida recorded 9,552 pedestrian-related traffic crashes in a single year, according to Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles data reported by WGCU Public Media. That statewide figure provides broader context for the local crash.
BSO detectives continue to investigate the circumstances of the collision. Desmandes' family and the community are left waiting for answers about the circumstances of the collision, including why the lot was dark during active operations, even as the sheriff's office has already cleared Becker of speeding or driving impaired.
