A South Hall Middle School sixth-grader is recovering today from an injured foot after being struck by a car on his way to the school bus Wednesday morning.

Christian Espitia was headed toward the bus stop at 3450 Sugar Hill Way in the Princeton Subdivision when he said the car's side mirror struck his arm and leg knocking him down and causing his foot to hit the pavement hard.

"I was just walking to the bus and then the car passed by the bus ... and it hit me," Espitia said.

He was taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center but his foot was only bruised.

The driver, Moises Jose Mora, 24, of Gainesville, had just passed the bus, which was approaching the stop without the stop arm or lights activated, said Gordy Wright, spokesman for the Georgia State Patrol.

"He was passing in a legal area," state patrol Sgt. Dean Allen said.

The trooper investigating the accident said the bus driver, Gary Pritchard, "followed regulations and would not be cited for any violations," said Gordon Higgins, spokesman for the Hall County school system.

The incident report has not been completed and no charges have been filed against Mora or Pritchard.

Superintendent Will Schofield and South Hall Middle Principal Paula Stubbs went to the hospital, where they met with Espitia's mother, Maria Espitia, Higgins said.

About an hour after the accident, which took place at 7:39 a.m., Pritchard was able to continue his route, Higgins said.

Officials at South Hall Middle, Da Vinci Academy and Johnson High School were notified that students who rode the bus would arrive about 9 a.m., he added.

Staff writer Patrick Stoker contributed to this report.