school bus accidents

Published on: November 17, 2009

Student Injured in DeKalb County School Bus Accident

Student Injured in DeKalb County School Bus Accident

News of a school bus accident is enough to cause concern to any Georgian. These vehicles carry some of the most precious cargo, and children may be at serious risk of injuries in these accidents. At least one student has been hospitalized with injuries after an accident involving two DeKalb County school buses this week.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the accident occurred on Monday, when bus number 1794 of the McClendon Elementary School struck bus number 1282 at the Lawrenceville Highway and Interstate 285 intersection. One of the children suffered cuts, and was taken to a hospital. Fortunately, there were no other injuries in the accident. The accident seems to have been caused when bus number 1794 backed up into the other bus.

Published on: April 29, 2008

School Bus Accidents Rampant in April

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

April has been a bad month for school bus accidents.We covered this subject in March when a Cherokee County school bus overturned and several students were taken to area hospitals.Since then, school bus accidents continue to be the subject of local news programs across the country.Many students suffered serious personal injuries as a result.

Monday morning of this week, two Pope High School students were injured when a car, driven by a teenage driver, ran up on the sidewalk and struck them.A fifteen-year-old girl was flown by helicopter to Children’s Hospital at Scottish Rite and is in critical condition.A seventeen-year-old boy was taken to Kennestone Hospital and treated and released.

The driver of the Jeep, Corey O’Connell, was driving northbound when a Nissan Maxima stopped in front of him to make a left-hand turn.He did not see the stopped car in time, swerved onto the sidewalk, and ran over a fire hydrant and an electrical box before striking the students with his vehicle.He has been charged with following too closely and failure to maintain his lane.

Published on: March 12, 2008

Students Injured in Canton Bus Accident

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A school bus carrying 27 students overturned on March 3, 2008 in Canton, Georgia.Twenty-six students were taking to area hospitals, but none were seriously injured.The driver, Luis Monserrate, was charged with failure to maintain a lane.

According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the driver let the school bus dip off the roadway onto the shoulder.He then overcorrected, causing the bus to veer off the road.The bus clipped a utility pole and then overturned.

Currently, there are 585,000 school buses in use in the nation.Over twenty-three million children travel on school buses each year.The Transportation Research Board reports that school buses are the safest mode of transportation for students. School bus accidents account for 6000 injuries annually and 20 deaths.Compared to incidents caused by adult drivers transporting students in a private vehicle, these cause 51,000 injuries and 169 deaths annually.Most deaths occur from students boarding or exiting buses.