The tragic death of a New Iberia Senior High School sophomore last week has brought new attention to an important safety issue.

Brandon Mann, 15, suffered fatal injuries Friday morning when he was struck by a car while on his way to his school bus stop on Louisiana 182. He was taken to Iberia Medical Center with severe head injuries and later flown to Lafayette General Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 6:55 a.m. Monday, according to Iberia Parish Coroner Dr. James Falterman.

Falterman said the cause of Brandon’s death was multiple trauma with brain injury, and the manner of his death was accidental. The car that struck Brandon was driven by Jeanerette’s Carl Rener, a teacher at Anderson Middle School. Mann was crossing the road at the time he was struck, and no charges are pending in the accident.

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A phone call to Rener Monday was not returned, and attempts to contact both him at Anderson Middle School as well a school officials at NISH were unsuccessful Tuesday.

Iberia Parish School Superintendent Dale Henderson said Mann’s death was “a bad situation all around.”

“It was an extremely unfortunate situation that that particular employee happened to be in that situation at that time,” Henderson said. “That would be true for any person involved. It was a very unfortunate coincidence.”

Henderson said the incident reinforces the need for awareness regarding school bus stop safety.

“It’s something for which we constantly remind our students and obviously their parents, of the potential danger which exists,” he said.

Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Wendell Raborn said it is important to be vigilant about school bus stop safety year round, not just early in the school year.

“When the new school year starts, we do a lot to stress safety in the bus stop areas,” Raborn said. “Unfortunately memories are short and the sight of school buses loading and unloading children becomes routine after a couple of months. Everyone, including the students, should make safety a priority. The human body cannot win in a confrontation with an automobile.”

Dr. Connie Veazey, a professor of psychology at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, specializes in the study of post-traumatic stress disorder following traffic accidents.

“A significant majority of people involved in motor vehicle accidents, as high as 60 percent in some studies, will experience traumatic stress symptoms in the immediate aftermath of an MVA, but only a smaller percentage will go on to experience these symptoms for a prolonged period of time requiring some type of professional intervention,” Veazey said, adding  symptoms include dissociation (being in a daze, amnesia for parts of the trauma, emotional numbing), re-experiencing the event through recurrent images, dreams, flashbacks, etc., avoidance of things that will remind the person of the trauma (not driving by the accident site) and increased anxiety or physical arousal. 

She said there are a variety of reactions which friends and family experience during such a loss.

“Grief reactions vary widely, but in the immediate aftermath of the death typically involve shock, numbness, disbelief, overwhelming confusion and disorganization,” Veazey said. “This is often difficult for people because in this immediate aftermath they have to make decisions about funeral arrangements and sorting out the deceased person’s affairs.”