By: Sharon Aron Baron
A vice principal of JP Taravella was hit by a car while directing traffic on Riverside Drive in Coral Springs early Wednesday morning.
Vice Principal Lisa Pannazzo was standing in the safety lane in front of JP Taravella High School and was assisting with carpool since it was the third day of school.  During this time Marcelina Richter of Coral Springs stopped at the stop sign on NW 107 Ave and Riverside Drive after dropping her daughter off for school.
According to the police report, Richter began to travel south and attempt to make a left turn to travel east on Riverside Drive. She looked left, then right, and began to initiate her left turn after looking once more. While driving forward, she could not stop in time to avoid striking Pannazzo. According to Richter, she was confused between her pedals and while trying to apply the brake, Pannazzo rolled up onto her hood then back down on to the ground as Richter rolled over, then stopped on top of her.
Coral Springs Fire Rescue responded and extricated her from under the vehicle where she was airlifted to Broward Health where she is listed in serious condition.
Accident investigators stated on the report that the driver contributed to the crash by not looking where her vehicle was going and failing to observe what was in front of her. However Pannazzo was not utilizing any high visibility protective equipment and should not have been in the roadway guiding traffic without it.
No one will be cited in this accident according to police.
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- Editor of Talk Media and writer for Coral Springs Talk. CST was created in 2012 to provide News, Views, and Entertainment for the residents of Coral Springs and the rest of South Florida.
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19 comments
Early morning school drivers are the absolute worst. All kids should take buses to school all of the time.
I don’t understand why the driver is not getting a citation! what if she had struck a child? I pray for a speedy recovery for Vice Principal Lisa Pannazzo!
Was Richter white or black?
What does that have to do with anything?
Right! What does color have to do with it
who cares what color she was she could have been sky blue pink she hit the lady. people need to pay attention these are kids going to school. if a child would have gotten hit the child would b dead now. school is in pay attention
hispanic
What does the color of anyone’s skin matter? The person that hit her could have been poka dotted, what does that have to do with an accident or anything for that matter??? The question you asked is one reason this country is in such turmoil these days due to people like you! I can only imagine what you’re like!
YOU are what’s wrong with America!! what difference does it make what race the woman is?
This woman was surrounded by officers that were standing off to the side talking while she was in the road directing traffic. Why was she allowed to operate in that capacity with no visual safety vest? Further more this was a school zone that was highly congested, why would this parent be moving that fast to be able to hit this woman and run her over? Not to be charged is an insult all in it self. This is horse crap and she deserves better. This lady deticated her life to education and made it from the classroom to AP and we thank her by running her over! Wonderful
She shouldn’t have had to direct traffic in the first place. Pretty sure AP’s are not traffic directors. They should be inside the school with students. If there really were officers all around, that is really a shame that she was doing their job.
hope your blaming the school system cause sometimes you can’t control the positions your put in when on a job. It may be kind of a shame, but it is always nice to see the higher ups step down for a sec and take on the jobs of the people under them. It displays an air of modesty which looks really good on small schools sometimes.
My prayers for her and the family. I work for the school board. They don’t give us vest when we are out directing traffic and greeting the parents and students. So it wasn’t her fault. The person should have been cited. Some of those parents don’t follow the school zone sign. Always on their phones and children not in seat belts..
The phones are the issue , with traffic with accidents everyone’s ALWAYS on their phones!!!! Just look around you at a red light no one is paying attention to their driving or traffic. F.b. ,i.g. And Twitter are more important smh. Prayers for a speedy recovery!!
That woman must have been on some serious drugs
pay back’s a bitch! it’s personal.
Remember the good old days when kids WALKED to school OR took the bus …. not the massive parent traffic jams from drop off’s and pick up’s for snowflakes who are to good to walk to and from school like they are supposed to do…
“However Pannazzo was not utilizing any high visibility
protective equipment and should not have been in the roadway guiding
traffic without it.” I hope this was not in the crash report as it would mean that every pedestrian is or would be required to wear “high visibility protective equipment” when on a roadway. I wasn’t there so I don’t have all the info but based upon Sharon Baron’s report of the incident the driver should have cited for “careless driving” (Did not look and ENSURE her path was clear of vehicles and pedestrians. And was CONFUSED between pedals while trying to apply brake. If that’s not careless I don’t know what is. Also according to Baron’s report Pannazzo was standing in the SAFETY LANE when struck. Florida State Statute 316.1355 states “No vehicle shall at
any time be driven through or within a safety zone. A violation of this
section is a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a moving
violation as provided in Chapter 318”. So the driver should have been cited for this too. Just my 2 cents
This was not the reporter’s opinion or personal report. This was taken directly from the Coral Springs Police accident investigator’s report.