Bucks student hit by principal’s car still critical

A day after being struck by an SUV driven by a middle-school principal, a 15-year-old Bucks County boy remained in critical condition at Lehigh Valley Hospital - Cedar Crest, hospital officials said this afternoon.

Police, meanwhile, said it could be several weeks before the investigation into yesterday's early-morning accident is concluded.

Ricardo Smith, a sophomore at Pennridge Regional High School, was walking to school when he was struck at Fifth Street and Campus Drive, across from the school grounds in East Rockhill Township, at 6:48 a.m.

The impact, which left Smith with severe head injuries, cracked the SUV's front bumper and windshield, said Chief David Mettin of the Pennridge Regional Police Department.

The driver, Margaret Kantes, the principal of the adjoining Pennridge North Middle School, immediately stopped and comforted Smith, covering him with her coat until paramedics arrived.

The accident initially was reported as a hit-and-run because Kantes, 66, did not immediately identify herself at the scene as the driver. Mettin said there was "no clear-cut answer" why Kantes did not tell police at the scene that she had struck the boy.

"It doesn't appear that she was being deceitful," Mettin said. "She didn't hide the car. She's been cooperative ever since." He added that the shock of the incident "could have created some confusion for her."

Mettin said there was evidence that Kantes tried to call police immediately after hitting Smith but never got through to a dispatcher.

Smith was wearing headphones when police arrived, Mettin said. "Whether they were in his ears or not, we don't know. We don't have a firsthand account from him about what happened."

Investigators hope to interview the boy soon, "but it's going to be up to his medical condition," Mettin said. The boy's mother spoke to the chief today, he said, and "she said they're praying for him. She was pretty upset."

Mettin said an accident reconstruction specialist has been assigned to the case. While there have been no obvious signs of wrongdoing, he said, neither has anything been ruled out.

Investigators returned to the scene early this morning to check on whether the traffic light, the crosswalk lights, and the 15-mph speed restriction sign were functioning properly during the time of the accident.

All were found to be working properly, Mettin said. The speed restriction sign began flashing at 6:46 a.m., he said, two minutes before the time of yesterday's accident.

Kantes voluntarily submitted to toxicology testing. Mettin said the investigation will not be completed until the results of those blood tests are received.

"We haven't had an 'aha' moment when we said, 'This is what caused the accident,'" Mettin said. "We want to rule everything out before we make a final determination. And that should be at least three weeks."