school bus accidents

Published on: October 29, 2024

School Bus Safety Notes on Preventing Car Accidents

With hundreds of thousands of children across the metro Atlanta region now back at school, it is important for motorists, parents and other stakeholders to focus on looking out for school buses and keeping children safe. Unfortunately, every year there are car accidents near school buses in which children are killed or injured.

As a motorist, know the rules to follow when it comes to sharing the roads with school buses. School buses are some of the most regulated vehicles on our streets, and, therefore, are subject to a number of rules and regulations. Motorists in Georgia and other states are also required to follow the rules when they share the roads with these massive vehicles and their precious cargo, in order to avoid auto accidents.

When you are following a school bus, look out for the flashing lights. Yellow lights mean that the bus is preparing to slow down, which means that you need to slow down and prepare to stop as well. A red light means that children are being picked up or dropped off. You must remain stopped while the red light is on and the Stop arm is extended. Wait till the bus actually starts moving before you start your car and move ahead too.

Published on: November 9, 2022

Feds Launch School Bus Accident Prevention Campaign

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

With children back at school, the federal administration is turning its attention to the critically important subject of school bus safety, starting off with a media campaign to specifically warn drivers about the most common mistakes that many of them make when encountering a stopped school bus. Unfortunately, these mistakes often result in the wrongful death from pedestrian accidents.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched a school bus safety campaign that warns motorists about the risk to child pedestrians when they illegally pass a stopped school bus. The campaign is expected to last through the entire month of October and also coincides with National Pedestrian Safety Month which is marked in the month of October. It is child pedestrians, specifically school children getting on or off school buses, that the campaign wants to raise awareness about.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the greatest accident threat to school children is manifested not when they are riding on a school bus, but getting on or getting off the school bus. Georgia, as every other state in the United States, has laws that specifically prohibit motorists from passing a stopped school bus. Motorists are required to stop their car for as long as the school bus stop arm is extended. However, many motorists fail to do so every year, and these failures have devastating results. They cause pedestrian accidents that cause serious injuries to children.

Published on: January 26, 2017

Missing Accident Data Impedes Ability to Prevent School bus Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The horrifying fatal school bus accident in Chattanooga in November that killed five children has highlighted the frailties in the system that make it difficult to track accidents and take steps to effectively prevent similar deadly crashes.

In November, a bus left Woodmore Elementary School with approximately 37 students on board, crashed into a tree, and flipped over. Six children were killed, and several others injured, including six who were injured seriously enough to be rushed to the intensive care unit. The driver of the bus was arrested on charges of vehicle homicide. At least one of the children on the bus was a kindergartner.

According to the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), this year alone, there have been at least 700 accidents involving metro Atlanta school buses, or approximately 2 crashes a day. However, that data may be incomplete. Officials admit that the database lacks data on many accidents, and this makes it difficult for officials to track accident rates, pinpoint causes, and take steps to eliminate these accidents. Those steps include retraining school drivers, strengthening training and safety standards, and identifying accident trends in particular areas. Better accident data could also help identify dangerous drivers, who can then be removed from the system.

Published on: January 31, 2013

Investigations Rule Out Brake Failure in Newton School Bus Accident

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Investigations into the recent school bus accident in Newton County are continuing.However, as of now, it does not appear that brake failure was a reason for the accident that injured more than 40 children.

The accident involved 2 school buses. According to the Georgia State Patrol, one of the school buses rear-ended the other, which had stopped to drop off children on Georgia Highway 162.Both of the buses were carrying students from Rocky Plains Elementary School.

Thirty four injured students and one of the bus drivers had to be rushed to the Newton Medical Center.Six other students were injured and taken to another hospital. Although the children had to be hospitalized, none of the injuries are believed to be life-threatening.

Published on: December 27, 2011

School Bus DUI Incident Underscores Bus Safety Challenges

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A school bus driver who was caught driving under the influence in another state underscores to Atlanta bus accident lawyers the challenges involved in keeping children safe on school buses. Importantly, school districts must be extremely diligent in hiring bus qualified drivers or they risk serious injuries to children and claims for negligent hiring and retention. A New Jersey school bus driver was arrested on charges of driving under the influence. That on its own may not have been a media- worthy event, except for the fact that it was the children on the school bus who called and informed their parents about the driver’s intoxicated behavior.

Parents received calls from their children on the bus, who noted that their driver was driving erratically and was dozing off at the wheel. The frantic parents called the school, and school authorities got in touch with the police. The driver, Carole Crockett was later arrested. She has been charged with DUI with a minor, endangering the welfare of a child, disorderly conduct and a number of other charges.

Police conducted breath tests, and found that Crockett registered at a startling .25% on the test. She is a commercial bus driver, and therefore, her maximum allowed BAC level is .04%, compared to the .08% that is allowed for other motorists. On a side note, this is one instance where Atlanta car accident lawyersare really glad that the children on the school bus happened to have their cell phones with them and used them. With a BAC concentration of .25%, it’s highly likely that this driver would have caused an accident.

Published on: August 8, 2011

Investigation Indicates Carroll County School Bus Driver in Fatal Bus Accident Was Drowsy

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has obtained a Georgia’s State Patrol investigative report into the fatal school bus accident in Carroll County in 2010 that resulted in the wrongful death of a student.The investigative report blames drowsy driving by the school bus driver, and also indicates that students on the bus were nervous about the bus driver’s driving abilities.

The accident occurred in October 2010, when a group of fourteen high school students were traveling from Temple High School to a vocational school.Suddenly, the bus veered to the right of the road and into a ditch.It then overturned, leaving more than a dozen students with personal injuries.A seventeen-year-old student on the bus was killed.He was partially ejected from the bus when it flipped over, and was trapped underneath the bus.

The driver of the bus was a trainee who was scheduled to take his test to become a full-time driver the next day.He had not completed six hours of required training. The investigative report seemed to indicate that the driver had a record of unsafe driving, and students on the bus had been afraid for their safety on the day of the accident.Several students also mentioned to investigators that the way he was driving, especially over dirt roads, was very unsafe.This week, he was sentenced to a year of probation and fined $600 for failure to stay in his lane.

Published on: April 30, 2011

Students Injured in School Bus Accident in Gwinnett County, Georgia

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Several school students were injured in a bus accident involving two school buses in Gwinnett County earlier this week.The accident occurred at an intersection where two school buses were stopped.A third bus approached the scene, and rear-ended the second bus.The driver of the third school bus sustained minor injuries, and was taken to the Gwinnett Medical Center.Unfortunately, as an Atlanta injury attorney, I have seen too many bus accidents result in far more serious injures and wrongful death.

There were a total of 38 children on the third bus, and 10 of them suffered back injuries. The students on the other two buses did not suffer any injuries.The driver of the bus has been cited for following too close.The drivers of the other two buses have been suspended temporarily while an investigation into the accident continues.

Atlanta bus accident lawyers will have to wait until investigations are completed to learn why the third bus driver was not able to stop in time to avoid crashing into the other bus.However, it’ll probably be worthwhile to probe the role of distractions and inattention as a factor in this crash.School bus drivers have an additional responsibility to be cautious and completely attentive while driving.These buses carry some of our most precious cargo, which makes it all the more important for drivers to be attentive at all times.

Published on: October 26, 2010

Pedestrian Child Critically Injured in McDuffie County Bus Accident involving Truck

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Georgia State Patrol investigators are investigating a pedestrian accident involving a third-grade boy, who was critically injured in an accident as he was getting into his school bus. The pedestrian accident occurred last Tuesday.As the school bus pulled over, the boy who was waiting at the stop, walked into the road to get on the bus.At that point, he was struck by a pickup truck. The boy was thrown about 50 feet away from the point of impact.He sustained critical injuries, and is being treated at a local hospital.

The driver of the school bus says that he had stopped the bus, and a stop sign was clearly visible at the time of the accident.However, the driver of the pickup truck insists that the bus had not stopped moving when the accident occurred, and the stop sign was not out when his vehicle hit the boy.Neighbors in the area have their own explanation for the accident.They say there’s a serious problem with speeding motorists on that stretch of road.

This accident came during the same week as another crash involving a school bus in Barrow County.In that accident, several students were injured when their bus was rear-ended by a Jeep.None of the students were seriously injured.

Published on: October 22, 2010

Five Persons Injured in Georgia School Bus Accident

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

In the most recent in a string of serious school bus accidents in Georgia, five people have been injured in an accident involving a stopped school bus in Barrow County. The accident occurred on Wednesday. There were 14 students on the bus when the accident occurred.According to witnesses, the bus had its warning lights activated, and was unloading passengers when it was rear-ended by a Jeep.The driver of the Jeep suffered serious injuries, and was rushed to the hospital.Three students on the bus also suffered injuries, and had to taken to the Barrow Regional Medical Center.The students had been standing up at the time of the accident, waiting for their turn to exit the bus.The children reportedly sustained bumps and bruises.The driver also sustained injuries.

According to news reports, the school bus had had its warning lights activated.Moreover, the accident occurred during daylight.Investigators will likely be looking at the reason why the pickup truck driver was unable to stop before he rear-ended the school bus.

Georgia School Bus Accident Claims

Published on: September 9, 2010

Back to School, but Safely

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Back to School, but Safely

School is back in session again, and that means more school buses on our roads, and more harassed parents racing against the clock to get to the gates on time.This is always a riskier time of the year, not just for students, but also for Atlanta’s motorists.It’s very likely that most children and their parents have forgotten about safety over the holidays, and hence, this reminder.

There will be thousands of children across Georgia using school buses after the long summer.According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, children are more likely to be injured when they are either getting down from, or getting on the bus, and not when they are riding on one.That is definitely something that parents need to think about.