Ocean City, MD — June 7, 2025, One person was injured following a car accident that occurred at around 1:30 A.M. in Ocean City.

According to reports, Trevor Vollmer was reportedly outside on foot with his friends throwing a ball that ended up in the street. Vollmer walked into the road to retrieve the ball and was struck by a bus, and was then assisted by occupants on the bus who began rendering aid.

First responders arrived and transported Vollmer to the hospital in critical condition. It does not appear that anyone else was injured, and Vollmer is reportedly in serious but stable condition.

Commentary

When someone on foot is struck by a bus, the first question that comes to mind is: How did the driver not see him? That’s especially true when the pedestrian is a young person retrieving a ball, an activity so ordinary that it happens in neighborhoods across the country every day.

It’s tempting to view this purely as an unfortunate accident—something that just couldn’t be helped. But from a legal standpoint, the real focus has to be on visibility, driver attentiveness, and the layout of the area where this occurred. Was the driver distracted or speeding? Did the roadway design or lighting contribute to the problem? Did the bus have blind spots that should have been accounted for?

Visibility and Reaction Time

Bus drivers are trained to anticipate the unexpected, especially in areas where foot traffic is common. That’s part of the job. The law expects professional drivers to scan their environment and be prepared to react. If a pedestrian enters the roadway suddenly, the driver may have only seconds to respond—but whether those seconds were used appropriately is a question worth asking.

Investigators should examine whether the driver was looking ahead, whether they had time to stop, and whether their speed allowed for a safe reaction. The answers to those questions won’t be found in assumptions—they’ll come from vehicle data, eyewitness statements, and possibly surveillance or dash cam footage.

What Evidence Will Matter?

Modern buses often have front-facing cameras, side cameras, or internal systems that track speed and braking. These systems may show whether the driver applied the brakes, swerved, or reacted at all. If the driver was on the phone, that’s another factor investigators will want to verify through call records.

Scene photos, lighting conditions, and the layout of the street also matter. Was this a wide open roadway with clear sight lines, or a curved neighborhood street where a child could appear suddenly? That context makes a big difference when evaluating whether the driver could—and should—have seen the pedestrian.

The Human Side Doesn’t Replace the Legal One

It’s worth acknowledging that passengers on the bus reportedly assisted immediately, which speaks to a basic human decency. But even when people do the right thing after a crash, the responsibility for what happened before impact doesn’t go away. Serious questions remain about what the driver saw, when they saw it, and whether they had time to respond.

Key Takeaways

• The key question is whether the bus driver could have seen the pedestrian in time to avoid the collision.
• Bus camera footage, braking data, and driver phone records may offer crucial insight into the moments before the crash.
• Visibility, speed, and road layout are all factors investigators should examine closely.
• Good actions after a crash don’t erase accountability for what led up to it.
• Only a full investigation can determine whether this was unavoidable or the result of driver error.