A Whitehall Township motorist has been charged with recklessly endangering another person for striking a 5-year-old boy at a school bus stop in Whitehall Township.

Beverly A. Bell, 62, of 1 Maryland Circle, Apt. 238, also was charged Sept. 27 with summary offenses of careless and reckless driving, meeting or overtaking a school bus and driving a vehicle at an unsafe speed.

Bell was arraigned by District Judge Robert C. Halal Sept. 28 in Lehigh County Central Booking. She was released on $25,000 unsecured bail with the condition that she report to Lehigh Valley Pretrial Services.

An affidavit of probable cause filed by Whitehall Township police alleges the following:

At about 8:13 a.m. Sept. 12 a school bus, facing east, was stopped on Fairmont Avenue. A 5-year-old boy was crossing Fairmont Avenue from north to south to board the school bus. A vehicle driven by Bell was traveling west on Fairmont Avenue when the vehicle's driver's side front bumper struck the boy on the left side. The boy came to rest under the bus.

Witnesses indicated the school bus had red warning lights, a crossing arm and sign activated when the child was struck.

Witnesses told police that the vehicle was traveling faster than the posted speed of 25 m.p.h.

The boy was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital, Salisbury Township, where he was treated for injuries.