A middle school student was hit by a car while waiting for their bus Tuesday morning near Upper Valley Falls Road and Gobblers Knob in Spartanburg County, according to a district announcement. The crash happened around 7:40 a.m., and the student is now being treated at Spartanburg Regional, where officials say they are expected to recover.
Spartanburg District 2 said the student's bus arrived on scene shortly after the crash, and the bus driver helped ensure help was called and stayed with the student until first responders arrived, who then transported the student to the hospital. The incident, reported by FOX Carolina, happened near Upper Valley Falls Road and Gobblers Knob in Spartanburg County.
A Pattern of Bus-Related Crashes This Fall
Tuesday's crash adds to a troubling run of school bus incidents across Spartanburg County since classes resumed for the 2026–2027 year. On August 26, a passenger vehicle rear-ended a Spartanburg County School District 7 bus on Mockingbird Lane while it was picking up students, sending one student to the hospital and requiring on-scene medical evaluations for as many as seven others, as Hoodline reported in its earlier coverage of that collision.
Tuesday's incident, in which the student was struck away from the bus itself while waiting at the stop, differed from the August collision.
What South Carolina Law Requires Near Stopped Buses
South Carolina law sets strict rules for drivers approaching school buses, even though this case involved a student waiting at a stop rather than a bus-passing violation. Under South Carolina Code § 56-5-2770, motorists traveling in either direction on any two-lane road must come to a complete stop when a school bus has its flashing red lights on and its stop arm extended, and they cannot proceed until the lights are off or the bus moves again, according to state statute cited by the South Carolina Department of Public Safety and summarized in a safety explainer from Trooper Bob's channel on Facebook.
Violating that law carries steep consequences. South Carolina Code § 56-5-2780 and related traffic statutes impose minimum fines of $500, six driver's license points, and up to 30 days in jail for a first offense of unlawfully passing or violating traffic laws around a stopped school bus, with penalties escalating to felony charges if a collision causes great bodily harm or death, per state law referenced in Hoodline's prior reporting on the Mockingbird Lane crash.
Spartanburg's Roads Rank Among State's Riskiest
The crash lands amid broader warning signs about road safety in Spartanburg County and across South Carolina. State traffic data show Spartanburg County recorded 53 traffic fatalities between January 1 and October 11 this year, down from 65 fatalities in the same period in 2025, according to South Carolina Department of Public Safety statistics.
The crash lands amid broader warning signs about road safety in Spartanburg County and across South Carolina. A June 2026 “Dangerous by Design” report from Smart Growth America ranked South Carolina fourth in the nation for pedestrian fatality risk, documenting 893 pedestrian deaths statewide between 2020 and 2024, South Carolina Public Radio reported.
Spartanburg County has also seen other fatal pedestrian incidents involving students this year. In February, the South Carolina Highway Patrol opened a hit-and-run fatality investigation after 19-year-old Dorman High School student Jose Julian Morales-Diaz was struck and killed near Howard Street and Simuel Road, according to a report from WYFF News 4.
Open Questions as Recovery Continues
Spartanburg District 2 operates 14 public schools across the Boiling Springs, Chesnee, Inman, Mayo, and Valley Falls communities, including Boiling Springs Middle, Chesnee Middle, and Rainbow Lake Middle; the injured student attends Rainbow Lake Middle. It remains unclear whether driver distraction or lighting conditions played a role in the early-morning crash, and whether Spartanburg District 2 or county planners will examine safety measures at rural and suburban bus stops along two-lane corridors like Upper Valley Falls Road. Hoodline will continue following updates on the student's recovery at Spartanburg Regional and any findings from investigators.
