Girl Is Struck by School Vehicle, Seriously Hurt : Sun Valley: Authorities say first-grader may have been confused by burned-out traffic signal.

A first-grader was critically injured Thursday morning when she was struck by a small school bus at an intersection where the traffic signal had burned out, authorities said.

Six-year-old Veronica Pech was airlifted to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where she was being treated for a ruptured spleen and a deep cut on her face, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman said.

Her condition was upgraded from critical to serious Thursday afternoon, but she remained in the hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

At the time of the accident, the traffic light where Veronica was crossing--at the northeast corner of Strathern Street and Vineland Avenue--did not signal stop because the red light bulb was burned out, said a city Transportation Department official. The pedestrian signal, with its orange don’t walk hand, was operating properly, but was partially obscured by a tree.

But the California Highway Patrol, which is investigating the accident, said that because the pedestrian signal at the corner was working, authorities believe Veronica should have known not to cross, said CHP Officer Rich Obregon.

According to the CHP and witnesses to the 7:25 a.m. accident, the young North Hollywood girl had gotten off a public Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus about four blocks from her school, Roscoe Elementary School, 10765 Strathern St.

When she reached the corner of Strathern and Vineland, Veronica--who was trying to cross Strathern from south to north--waited for a car to turn right, then stepped out into the street. Witnesses and authorities said that her comments after the accident indicated she might have been confused by the burned-out red light.

“She said that she didn’t know the light was red, and couldn’t remember that it was,” Obregon said.

Veronica was hit when the driver of the Los Angeles Unified School District mini-bus was unable to stop in time, authorities said. The eastbound driver, who had a green light, tried to swerve out of the way, witnesses said, but the right front of the bus hit Veronica in the face and knocked her over.

Willie McLeod, who was waiting at a nearby bus stop, said he saw the school bus bearing down on the girl, but was too far away to try to pull her out of the street.

“I saw the bus coming, so I called out and she stopped,” McLeod said. “If she had kept on going, the bus might have run over her.”

Afterward, McLeod said he talked to Veronica to keep her calm until help arrived. “I lied to her and told her it was just a scratch,” he said.

The elementary school’s principal, Ruth Bunyan, rushed to the scene when she learned what had happened. “Her eyes were open but she was not moving,” she said later.

The bus driver--Ricardo Barajas, 28, of Lancaster, a district employee--has not been charged in the accident. “It doesn’t appear he did anything wrong,” Obregon said.

Witnesses lauded Barajas for doing the best he could to avoid a collision.

“It totally took this guy by surprise,” McLeod said. “He did very well just avoiding the oncoming traffic.”

Neither Barajas nor the sole elementary student who was riding in the school bus were injured, a school district spokesman said.

The red light bulb was replaced Thursday afternoon and the tree that hid part of the pedestrian signal was trimmed, said Don Benjamin, a senior traffic signal superintendent at the city’s Transportation Department.

But Benjamin joined those who discounted the light as a contributing factor in the accident, saying the pedestrian signal had been at least partly visible from the curb.

“There was a red light out for vehicle traffic, but the hand signal was working,” he said. “It wasn’t totally clear but it was visible.”

Neighbors said the intersection, which is traversed by hundreds of students each school day, is a hazard--even when the traffic signal is functioning properly--partly because there is no crossing guard there.

“The children need to be protected at this corner, not a block away,” said Sharon Lyle, referring to two crossing guards who work at intersections nearer to the school.

The injured girl told officers at the scene that her mother’s boyfriend had ridden the MTA bus with her, but had gotten off several stops before she did and instructed her to stay on the bus until she reached her stop.

After the accident, classmates created a mural at the school with their handprints and made get-well cards for Veronica.

A counselor, John Hall, said: “They were very upset but were very relieved to hear that she was OK.”

“She is the cutest, bubbliest little girl in the world,” Hall added. “It’s sad because she’s so responsible.”