This month a teacher prevented a potentially dangerous situation when she jumped into a moving car. The vehicle started rolling towards students, but was stopped before it reached them.
New Jersey teachers made national headlines recently after stopping a car that was heading toward their school from a group standing outside. The students were on a sidewalk as it was their first day back to school.
Valerie Tauriello was Linden-based health and physical education teacher. She noticed the car moving and jumped into action. When the incident occurred, she was at drop-off.
A teacher who jumped into a moving SUV to stop it from bumping a group of students speaks about the experience via her laptop.
STUDENTS COULD HAVE BEEN INJURED
A hurried father quickly ran into the school to give his child an iPad which they had forgotten. His SUV started rolling just a few minutes later. Tauriello stated that there could have been injuries if the outcome had been different.
She added some insight into the experience from her perspective:
“Without hesitation, I just had to jump into action and stop that moving car from running into the school or injuring the kids.”
Vehicle driver races toward his moving SUV to stop it from bumping into a group of students.
BLESSED TO HAVE HER
Tauriello tried to get the father’s attention, but she quickly ran around the car when he failed to reply. She expressed: “So I figured I’m the only one who can get to this car right now.” Her colleagues commended her quick reaction.
Her actions have been called heroic by many people but not everyone agrees.
The school principal, Gwendolyn Long, described Tauriello as a teacher who sees the pupils as her own kids. Long added that the school was blessed to have her on staff because she always put the students first.
The kids could have walked out of the way it was rolling so slowly. 🙄
— Anyone heard from Rickie Lake? (@HeardAnyone) September 13, 2021
JUMPED INTO ACTION QUICKLY
In the clip, Tauriello, the head coach of the Linden High School softball team, could be seen wearing a supportive boot from an injury. This didn’t prevent the teacher from running around the white SUV immediately and jumping into the car.
Tauriello admitted that she was frozen initially and stated she was not a good runner. However, she knew somebody would get hurt if she didn’t act. At the end of the clip, the driver also sprinted toward the car and began to push against its front end.
THE ONLINE REACTION
The footage was captured thanks to the school’s security camera. Many people have praised her actions as heroic, but not all agree. Many netizens pointed out that the car was moving slowly and that there was no danger.
One user said: “If any of those kids couldn’t avoid being hit by a car rolling 1 mph ….. I think that school has much bigger problems.” Another added a similar sentiment: “You’re telling me they couldn’t have moved ???”