Bus Accidents

A school bus in East Moline was transporting local elementary school children en route to a local field trip when it was struck by a dark red sedan around 9:00 in the morning on Monday, May 18, 2015. The bus was going eastward on 17th Avenue when it was hit by a car moving northward on 7th Street. The drivers of both vehicles sustained injuries in the crash, though none of the injuries were reported as being life-threatening and the bus driver was allegedly evaluated and treated at an area hospital before being released later that day. None of the 48 children on board at the time were injured in the incident.

All four dozen of the children were taken via another bus to their field trip after it was established that none of them had been hurt in the accident. The superintendent for the East Moline School District, Mr. Kristin Humphries, expressed gratitude for the swift response of the first responders, including firefighters, paramedics, and police officers who arrived to the scene of the accident quickly. He also made a statement lauding the driver of the bus as a skilled, valuable veteran driver with 23 years of career experience. The driver’s identity has not been released at this time.

The driver of the sedan has been identified as Samuel Perry, aged 23. Perry was charged with failure to obey a traffic signal and driving at an unsafe speed. It is not clear whether Perry may have run a red light or perhaps attempted to speed through a yellow light, although he is considered to be the at-fault party in the crash. The sedan sustained moderate damage to the driver’s side doors and front end. Damage to the bus appeared to be mostly limited to the bumper closest to the door where children board and deboard the bus.

According to a report released by the Illinois Department of Transportation, there were more than 1,500 crashes involving a school bus in the 2013 calendar year, the last year for which statistics were available. Of those, more than 70 bus drivers were injured as a result of the collisions. Five fatalities resulted from collisions involving school buses that year.

A bus carrying many of the North Carolina-based minor league baseball team, the Carolina Mudcats, was involved in a turnover crash on Tuesday, May 12, 2015, resulting in the injuries of several players. Three players to date have been placed on the team’s disabled list as a result of the accident, but the team plays on in spite of these setbacks. The bus was carrying the team en route to South Carolina for a game when the crash took place.

The number and degree of injuries sustained in the accident have not yet been reported, although three of the team’s pitchers have been placed on the disabled list: Lucas Sims, Andrew Thurman and Tyler Brosius. The crash and subsequent injuries occurred just before a planned charity game whose purpose was to raise funds for cancer research and awareness.

The three pitchers join two other players on the Mudcats disabled list, resulting in five total players being out for the time being. It is not known if or when any of these players will be in condition to play again. The Carolina Mudcats are a minor league branch of the baseball world, owned by the same franchise as the Atlanta Braves.

The driver of the bus is alleged to have been speeding at the time of the accident, and the speed of the vehicle is currently considered to have been the major contributing factor to the accident’s occurrence at this time. The bus, owned by Abbott Trailways, was attempting to take a turn when it skidded out of control and wound up flipping over into a ditch by the roadside. Driver of the bus, 52-year-old Virginian Janice Coffman, is being cited by local authorities for driving too fast for current road conditions. No injuries sustained in the crash have been reported as life-threatening.

Currently, all games scheduled for this weekend are intended to go on as planned in spite of the accident and injuries.

Four people, including three minor children, were evaluated for medical issues following a crash involving a school bus that took place on the morning of Tuesday, April 28, 2015, when a school bus and pick-up truck collided in Hanover County, Virginia near the intersection of Bethany Church Road and State Route 33. The crash took place when the school bus operator slammed into a mid-2000s model pick-up that was stopped and attempting to make a left-hand turn onto another roadway. The bus driver faces charges related to following the pick-up too closely.

The bus, which was carrying students to South Anna Elementary School, was reportedly going westward on State Route 33 (on a segment of the highway called  Mountain Road) when it came upon the stopped truck but was unable to halt in time to avoid a collision. All injuries sustained in this crash are reported as being minor, with all wounded parties being treated and released shortly following the collision. Only four children were aboard the bus at the time of the collision, and all crash victims are expected to make a complete recovery.

First responders took no note of serious injuries of anyone on board either vehicle at the time of the crash, though minor accident-related pain was reported by the driver of the truck and all children aboard the bus at the time of the collision were evaluated and treated on scene. Although the school bus driver was cited with a moving violation in relation to the crash, it is unknown whether vocational penalties will be faced in relation to the crash.

According to statistics released by the Virginia Highway Safety Office, more than 350 school bus occupants were injured during traffic collisions during the 2013 calendar year, the last year for which statistics were made available.

A bus in Nepal lost control and veered off the road into a ravine early in the morning of Wednesday, April 22, 2015, causing the deaths of at least 17 people on board at the time of the accident. Twelve of these deaths are alleged to have taken place on scene, while five deaths occurred later in area hospitals. The accident occurred near Nagdhunga, an area a few miles westward from the nation’s capital city of Kathmandu

The bus was a double-decker bus, transporting around 50 people on a pilgrimage hailing from the Gujarat area of neighboring India. The injured were reportedly taken to seven area hospitals. Reports have stated that 30 people were injured in the crash. The condition of all the injured people has not been released, although four are said to be in critical condition and fighting for their lives.

The driver allegedly lost control of the vehicle on the Prithvi roadway when the bus swerved over a gorge, plunging nearly 1,000 feet down before landing on the valley floor below. The roads in Nepal are notoriously dangerous and ill-kept, and overcrowding of buses is a known issue in the region. Authorities in the area have yet to state whether the bus was filled beyond capacity at the time of the crash, and whether such a factor may have played a part in the bus crash.

Nepali roads are notorious for their danger, as many of the roadways in Nepal are ill-kept and lacking in proper safety protocols. Bus travel in the country is especially perilous, as many buses fill themselves beyond legally advised capacity, often with passengers riding atop the bus or hanging alongside the bus, even as the bus is stuffed full within. This causes a weight differential that can make an otherwise stable bus roll over at an alarmingly easy rate.

A school bus transporting three young students in Lake County, Ohio collided with a light-colored Pontiac on the morning of Tuesday, April 14, 2015. Although none of the children on board the bus were hurt in the accident, the driver of the car that struck the bus did sustain injuries. The accident took place at the corner of Meister Road and Lakeshore Boulevard in the city of Mentor. Five people, including two adults and three children, were on the bus at the time of the crash. The Pontiac’s driver was reportedly the sole occupant of the car.

The driver of the car, the bus driver and an aide on the school bus at the time of the incident were all taken to area hospitals. The bus driver and the aide to the driver were taken via ambulance to Hillcrest Hospital, located in the nearby Mayfield Heights neighborhood. The car’s driver was reportedly air lifted to MetroHealth Medical Center in Cincinnati to receive further medical care after being taken via ambulance to a local medical facility. Her exact condition and whether she is expected to survive her injuries is not known.

The driver of the automobile is reported as being a female, aged 38. The crash allegedly took place when the Pontiac pulled out in front of the bus, causing the bus to hit the car’s front end from the side in a T-bone collision. The front of the car showed severe damages, and the driver of the vehicle had to be pried out via mechanical means. There was some damage to the front end of the school bus, but it was far less extensive than the damage incurred to the Pontiac.

Witnesses stated that the intersection has seen its fair share of collisions in the past, mostly related to poor weather conditions. However, weather was not suspected of being a causal factor in this crash. There is a blind curve near the intersection of Meister Road and Lakeshore Boulevard, which may also contribute to the greater-than-usual number of traffic accidents along this stretch of road. It is not known whether drugs or alcohol played a contributing role in this accident, and the collision remains under investigation at this time. No word yet as to whether charges will be filed as a result of this incident.

A late 1990s model Buick Century rear-ended a school bus late in the afternoon of Thursday, April 2, 2015 in Henry County, Georgia, costing an 8-year-old girl her life. Three people were traveling in the Buick at the time of the crash: a father and two children, a male aged 7 and a female 8 years of age. The children were restrained in the back seat at the time of the accident. However, the impact was such that the top half of the passenger side of the Buick was crushed under the bus, causing the death of the little girl in the back passenger seat.

The bus was reportedly driving eastward on Georgia State Route 20 when it slowed and stopped to release a passenger. The bus enabled its flashing light system to alert drivers of its intent to stop. However, the Buick was allegedly not able to stop in time, making a last-second swerve to avoid a collision, but to no avail. The driver’s side of the car was spared from deadly damage, but the passenger side of the car sustained severe damage on the crash.

The young male and the driver of the car both reported injuries resulting from the collision, but these injuries are not suspected of being life-threatening. No students on board the bus have reported injuries beyond bumps and bruises. It is not yet known whether substance abuse may have been a factor in this collision. Investigators have stated that it is possible that the Buick’s driver was fatigued and fell asleep while driving, thus causing the deadly crash.

The case is expected to go in front of a grand jury in the coming weeks pending completion of the investigation by local authorities. During this process, the father operating the Buick will learn whether or not he will be charged with a crime in relation to the accident that ended in the tragic death of a young child.

An ambulance transporting a patient was involved in a collision with a school bus on the morning of Tuesday, March 21, 2015, leaving all three occupants of the ambulance injured. The crash took place as the bus was traveling westward on Indiana State Road 130, near the intersection with County Road 625 in Union Township, just southeast of Hobart. The ambulance was driving southward on County Road 625 when the vehicle allegedly ran a stop sign and smashed into the bus.

A dozen people on board the school bus have also reported injuries and underwent medical treatment both at the scene and at area hospitals. The driver of the ambulance was operating his vehicle on a suspended license—the third such suspension on his driving record. His identity has not been released at this time, but it has been reported that he is 23 years of age and lives in Griffith, Indiana.

More than 60 people were traveling on the Valparaiso School District bus at the time of the accident, only three of whom were adults. All injured parties aboard the bus were children, students of nearby Memorial Elementary School in the fifth grade on their way to a field trip. All parents have been notified and none of the injuries sustained during the collision are said to be life-threatening. School district officials have stated that all injured children were treated and subsequently released to their parents’ care. All uninjured students were taken to school via alternate methods of transport.

Local authorities have reported that the ambulance driver has been issued a ticket for failing to yield as well as numerous other citations, and bystanders stated that the ambulance did not have its lights or sirens on at the time it ran the stop sign and collided with the bus. The ambulance that caused the crash was owned and operated by Illinois-based Superior Ambulance Service. Police have stated that the ambulance driver was not arrested, as none of the citations he was given were “arrestable offenses,” including driving with a suspended license. The investigation remains ongoing, and it is not yet known whether charges will be filed as a result of this accident.

Seventy people were injured and at least three dozen killed in a crash between three buses and an ice truck in the pre-dawn hours of Monday, March 23, 2015 in Huarmey, Peru. Huarmey is located some 225 miles northward of Lima, the nation’s capital city, in Ancash. Of the three buses involved in the crash, at least two were double-decker buses carrying a multitude of passengers.

Reports state that one bus, run by Murga Serrano, swerved into an oncoming lane of traffic for unknown reasons, causing it to smash headlong into the other two buses and the ice truck at an unknown rate of speed. Bus travel is essential to daily Peruvian life, being a form of transit used by many commuters on a day-to-day basis. The mass collision took place on Pan American Highway, a thoroughfare used by many Peruvian people for north-south travel throughout the extensive country.

One of the buses—though it is unknown whether it is the vehicle that reportedly caused the crash—was carrying a slew of congregants from the Worldwide Missionary Movement. It is not yet known whether the individuals traveling aboard this bus were Peruvian nationals. An investigation is currently underway, with preliminary findings pointing at the possibility of driver fatigue being the cause of the swerving or drifting that brought on the deadly crash.

News photos paint a grisly tale of damage, with the buses torn asunder, seats exposed. Half a dozen of the wounded were airlifted by helicopter from the scene of the crash, and others were transported by way of emergency ground vehicles to area hospitals to receive medical care. The exact nature of the injuries and survival expectancy has not yet been released to the press. The Murga Serrano bus was reportedly split in two upon impact, leaving victims scattered across the pavement as it smashed into the three other vehicles before finally coming to a halt.

According to crash data released by the World Health Organization, Peru was host to more than 4,600 traffic deaths in 2010. Peruvian roadways are notoriously dangerous for drivers, in part due to poor pavement maintenance and other factors. Driver fatigue, such as that suspected to have played a role in this fatal crash, is a significant problem worldwide in terms of traffic accident causes. It is not yet known whether charges will be filed as a result of this horrific accident.

Linda Plamondon’s 20-year-old son David was killed when he was crossing a University of Connecticut campus roadway and was struck by a campus transit bus in 2011. Now, Plamondon is calling for reform of the university’s transit system, including who they hire. The campus transit system currently employs students to operate the bus routes transporting students around the campus, and Plamondon would like to see that changed. Plamondon feels that students may not have the appropriate amount of experience and training necessary to ensure safe bus operation, and has cited that as students, their attention is not focused on driving safely in the way that a professional bus operator’s would be.

However, University of Connecticut bus drivers disagree, citing that the training regimen that new drivers must go through before being hired is extremely rigorous and that all drivers must pass tests showing their understanding of the university transit system’s safety protocols before getting behind the wheel.

Another change Plamondon would like to see instituted is the installation of driver cameras in each university transit bus, so that in the event of a collision or other road traffic incident, the actions of the drivers immediately prior to the incident could be reviewed. The idea behind this is that if drivers were distracted or behaving inappropriately in some way, it would be visually recorded for later review during investigation. Many public transit buses across the globe have installed such cameras and have found them effective in reducing bus collision incidents.

Following the death of David Plamondon, the University of Connecticut transit system installed auditory turn warning systems in all on-campus transit buses. The buses with the system installed make an alarm sound when turning a corner. This system is set up to warn pedestrians of a bus making a turn in their direction, and is particularly useful for both drivers and pedestrians in cases where turns are blind on both sides.

It remains to be seen whether the installation of driver cameras aboard University of Connecticut campus transit buses will go forward. Meanwhile, Linda Plamondon will continue to fight for change to the transit system she feels was responsible for the untimely death of her son.

A school bus was preparing to drop off students on 206 County Road in Southampton, Massachusetts on the midafternoon of Tuesday, January 13, 2015 when a car traveling on the other side of the road slammed into another vehicle in front of it, then swerved, ending with a collision with the bus. The bus was escorting 31 children home at the time of the accident. No serious injuries have been reported as a result of the accident.

The bus reportedly was slowing to a stop and had turned on its flashing lights. By law, all motorists traveling on the road with a school bus whose stopping lights are on are required to stop and wait until the lights have ceased flashing to resume travel. One car had stopped for the flashing lights, but the driver of the vehicle behind it apparently did not see that the vehicle had stopped and rear-ended the car veering into the opposite lane and slamming into the school bus.

The driver of the stopped vehicle reported experiencing pain following the rear-end collision and was transported by first responders to an area hospital for medical evaluation. The car that rear-ended the stopped vehicle and crashed into the bus was transporting two young children at the time of the collision, and neither they nor the driver was harmed in the incident.

The car that hit the bus sustained severe front-end damage, and the vehicle it struck before colliding with the bus was also damaged in the accident, but was able to be safely operated following the crash. The bus did sustain some front-end damage, but was still operable following the incident and was able to be driven away from the site of the crash.

None of the drivers’ identities have been released to the public, and police are continuing to investigate the cause of the accident at this time.