A bus full of passengers was en route to Paul Revere Middle School on the morning of Tuesday, August 26, 2014 when it reportedly slammed into a tree, leaving nearly everyone on board—18 of its 22 passengers—with minor injuries. All injured parties, including the driver of the bus whose identity has not been released to the public, were taken to area hospitals for examination and treatment.
The bus was owned and operated by a private transportation company by the name of Nancy’s Bus Service. The company is said to have failed to register with the state of Texas’ Department of Motor Vehicles as it is required by law to do, and its registration has been lapsed for at least the past five years. The company’s registration was pulled by the DMV in 2009 due to a lack of proper insurance, and has never been reinstated since. Nancy’s Bus Service has also remained uninsured for the past two years. The ID number painted on the bus is reported to have a connection to a bus company operating under a different name, and it is unclear at this time whether this name is a DBA for Nancy’s Bus Service or if there is some sort of fraud involved. Representatives of the company have been contacted, but have refused to comment regarding the incident at this time.
The bus operator reported that the bus experienced some form of mechanical failure that allegedly caused the bus to suddenly swerve to the left and into a tree on the roadside near the intersection of Briar Forest Drive and Tanglewilde Street in Houston, Texas.
The principal of Paul Revere Middle School, Hafedh Azaiez, was contacted regarding the crash, as there was some concern at first that the school had contracted with an unregistered transportation service to provide rides for its students. However, Mr. Azaiez stated that the school has absolutely no ties with Nancy’s Bus Service, and that parents have occasionally been known to use private transit companies to shuttle their children to school when families live beyond the boundaries of district bus routes or otherwise do not qualify for district-run bussing.
Some students on board the bus at the time of the crash reported that the driver behaved strangely just prior to the crash, possibly indicating a medical emergency or ailment of some kind. However, the driver maintains that the crash was caused by a malfunctioning of the bus’ machinery, and has not reported feeling ill or injured prior to the accident.