As a mom I know the panic I would feel if I got a phone call that said my child was injured in an auto accident. Unfortunately seven parents in Louisville, Kentucky (KY) got that exact call.
Seven students and a Jefferson County Public Schools bus driver were transported to local hospitals after a dump truck rear-ended a school bus Tuesday morning on Interstate 65 northbound near the Watterson Expressway, police said.
My heart goes out to the children who were only 6 to 9 years old. They must have been terrified. They were taken to Kosair Children’s Hospital after complaining of neck and back pain, said Officer Carey Klain, a spokeswoman for Louisville Metro Police.
Many parents and locals are angry and blame the school for busing them. Comments on the story read:
There is no reason that elementary students should be on a bus traveling on the interstate when they could attend a neighborhood school. Wheatley Elementary is near Dixie Hwy and Garland; which is nowhere near I-65. It’s fortunate that the students (can we say young children?) were not fatality injured.
Roberts said 16 students were on the bus at the time of the accident, and those who did not report any injuries were transported to another bus and taken to school. It was “stop-and-go” traffic on I-65 when a tractor-trailer rear-ended a dump truck sending it into the back of the bus about 8:43 a.m.
What was the tractor-trailer doing that caused him to hit the dump truck with such force? Was he even watching the road? Now because of his carelessness, seven children are suffering.
No doubt they all have whiplash, which happens when the head is suddenly and violently thrust forward, then backwards when your vehicle is rear-ended. What actually occurs in a whiplash injury is when the neck hyperextends. The sensitive tendons and muscles can be damaged even at very low speeds, as low as 16 mph. I hope the children recover swiftly and if they don’t that the parents consider all their legal options
CA.