“The female driver of the vehicle involved in the accident deserves commendation for taking steps to reduce their speed when they noticed the girl coming from behind a vehicle parked on the other side of the road to the bus stop,” Esperance Police Senior Constable Philip Jeffries said.

“The driver noticed that the girl wasn’t watching the traffic and slowed down, anticipating that she might step out from behind the vehicle parked at the side of the road.

“Even though she anticipated the girl might step out on to the road, and had slowed down, the driver still had to jam her brakes on when the girl walked on to the road without looking.”

“It could have been much worse, but as it is, the driver just clipped her.”

According to Sen Const Jeffries, the bay is only sufficiently large to contain the bus, necessitating parents to park on the opposite side of the road.

This means the children have to cross the highway to access the bus.

“What is really frightening is that only seconds before the accident, a road train had driven through.

“It would seem that the girl didn’t hear the approaching car over the sound of the road train.”