Pedestrian Struck, Killed by School Bus in Gaithersburg

Nearest crosswalk was 1/4 mile away

A 55-year-old man was struck and killed by a school bus Thursday morning in Gaithersburg.

George Pezdirtz III, of the 900 block of Clopper Road, was crossing Clopper Road just east of Metropolitan Grove Road around 6:30 a.m. when he was hit by a Montgomery County school bus.

The school bus driver isn't likely to face charges. No students were on the school bus at the time of the crash.

Authorities said Pezdirtz wasn't using the crosswalk.

News4's Tony Tull reports that he saw several people illegally crossing the street to get to and from a bus stop on Clopper Road in the aftermath of the crash -- because the nearest crosswalk is approximately a quarter-mile away.

However, it's unknown whether the victim was going to or from the bus stop at the time of the crash, Tull said.

Thursday's incident is the latest in a rash of recent pedestrian accidents in the area, several of them fatal. 

Paul Starks of the Montgomery County Police offered advice on keeping safe: "Early in the morning, late at night, high noon: You've got to look both ways," he said.

"You've got to be engaged in what you're doing. If you're talking with a friend in person or on a phone, or you're listening to an iPod with the ear buds in, take the things out of your ears, put the phone down, stop talking with your friend [and] look both ways, a couple of times," he said.

The victim's identity has not yet been released.

Clopper Road was closed in both directions for several hours as police investigated the crash. 

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