8-year-old’s death leads to Georgia law enhancing school bus safety

Gov. Brian Kemp signed House Bill 409 into law this week, directing Georgia schools to plan safer bus routes and increasing penalties for drivers who pass a stopped school bus.

The law honors 8-year-old Adalynn “Addy” Pierce, who was hit and killed by a car Feb. 1 as she crossed the road to her school bus in Henry County, officials said. The driver, 25-year-old Kaylee Andre, stayed at the scene and cooperated with the investigation.

The crash took place on Jackson Lake Road at about 7 a.m., according to the Georgia State Patrol, which investigated the incident. The bus was stopped near a private driveway with its lights flashing and both stop signs deployed. Andre failed to stop and hit the child as she crossed the road, a GSP spokeswoman said.

Andre was arrested on multiple charges, including first-degree vehicular homicide and failure to exercise due care, Henry jail records show. She was booked into jail Feb. 3 and later released on $20,000 bond.

Kemp signed HB 409 on Wednesday to create “Addy’s Law” less than three months after the girl’s death.

“Ashley Pierce, the mother of Addy Pierce, passionately advocated for and was instrumental in the passage of this legislation,” Kemp’s office said in a statement.

Addy’s Law directs schools to avoid bus routes with stops that would require a student to cross a road where the speed limit is 40 mph or more. It also enhances the penalties for violating traffic laws related to meeting or passing a school bus. The minimum fine for a violation was increased to $1,000, and violators could get jail sentences of up to a year. Anyone caught passing a stopped school bus could also have their violation reported to their car insurance company.

According to her obituary , Addy Pierce was a third grader at Rock Springs Elementary School in McDonough. She loved to make bracelets, and her family asked that everyone who attended her celebration of life service wear bracelets in her honor.

Addy donated organs and tissue to help save the lives of multiple other children, her obituary said. She is survived by her mother and father, Ashley and Curt Pierce, and four sisters, as well as a large extended family.

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