A dozen students injured when school bus flies off road
Thankfully, no students were killed last week when a school bus driver lost control and ran off of the California road. However, 12 students were injured and two required hospitalization but are expected to recover.
Reportedly, the accident took place on Thursday afternoon in Anaheim when the bus was making a turn and jumped over a curb before hitting trees and a lamp post.
Investigators interviewed the bus driver, who was seriously injured in the accident, on Friday, but no details from the interview have been released at this time. It is expected that surveillance video from the bus will be analyzed as well as the driver’s health records.
A California Highway Patrol spokesman said that the bus may have been traveling as fast as 70 mph before it veered off of the road, according to one witness. He also reported that there were no skid marks on the road near the accident scene, suggesting that the driver did not attempt to slam on the breaks.
Although the school bus did have seatbelts, it is unclear how many of the students were wearing them. Witnesses said that many students were hanging out of the bus and calling for help from passersby after the crash took place.
After it was determined that the bus was leaking gas, the students were quickly assisted off, witnesses said. The bus driver, who appears to have suffered the worst injuries, had to be cut from the bus and pulled from the windshield by rescue workers.
The CHP will work to determine the cause of the accident. If negligence or criminal behavior was to blame, it is likely that personal injury lawsuits against the school bus company could result.
As we reported earlier this week, the first civil claim has been filed in the wake of the deadly charter bus accident that occurred earlier this month 100 miles north of Sacramento.
Source: Associated Press via Fox News, “Investigators interview driver in California school bus accident that injured 12, 3 critically,” April 25, 2014