Metro

Altoona police do not plan to charge the driver of the Amtran bus that struck a 13-year-old pedestrian last Friday evening, sending the teen to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh with serious injuries, police Chief Derek Swope said Thursday.

The decision not to charge the driver with anything in connection to the accident was based on a review of surveillance footage from the bus, local business footage and GPS analysis, Swope said.

“It looks like a case where the child didn’t … she attempted to cross mid-block, (where) it was not safe,” Swope said.

The GPS and video analysis showed that the bus was traveling between 32 and 37 mph in a 25 mph zone, according to Swope.

The excess speed indicated by the analysis would not likely have been sufficient to support charges in court, according to Swope.

“We just hope for a speedy recovery for the juvenile,” Swope said.

The accident on the 700 block of Kettle, between East Caroline and East Hudson avenues, occurred as Brooklyn Beers was walking with her brother near their house, according to Swope and Brooklyn’s mother, Holly Tate.

The bus came around a corner, taking the pair by surprise, Tate said last Saturday.

Brooklyn was taken by medical helicopter to the hospital with injuries that included skull and facial fractures, a liver laceration and pulmonary bruising, Tate said at the time.

The family has started a GoFundMe page that has raised $6,000 toward a goal of $50,000 as of Thursday afternoon.

The money raised will go to help with travel, lodging, meals, missed work, out-of-pocket medical expenses, follow-up specialists and rehabilitation, counseling support for the family and other recovery needs, according to the page.

Hospital personnel have performed wound debridement, wiring to knit together Brooklyn’s jaw and stabilization of loosened teeth, according to her father, Levi Beers, writing on the GoFundMe page.

His daughter has been in a lot of pain, he wrote.

The family has retained legal counsel, according to the page.

Beers has repeatedly posted messages of thanks to donors, along with requests for prayers.

Amtran employees have been thinking about the teen and her family, according to Amtran CEO Michele Barnes.

“The parents are living through their worst nightmare,” she said.

An Amtran investigation of the incident will wrap up shortly, Barnes said.

Pursuant to Federal Transit Administration guidelines, the driver has undergone drug and alcohol testing, and has been released back to duty, Barnes said.

The driver is “a phenomenal employee, a good person with a clean driving record — a clean safety record,” she said.

“To see (the driver) have to struggle, to navigate through this as well has been difficult,” she said.

She thanked the police and the first responders for their quick actions following the accident.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.