Distracted School Bus Driver Wrecks in Hendersonville, NC | Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp

Fifteen young schoolchildren suffered cuts, bruises and slightly more serious injuries requiring hospital treatment after the school bus in which they were riding ran off the road south of Asheville, North Carolina (NC), early on the morning of September 11, 2014. The wreck occurred on Deep Gap Road near the intersection with Upward Road outside the town of Hendersonville.

 

 

According to police, the crash happened after the bus driver took his eyes off the road to check the gauges on the dashboard. That brief distraction led the man to lose control of the vehicle, drift into the lane for oncoming traffic, overcorrect and steer into a roadside ditch. The school bus driver now faces a charge of failing to maintain a proper lane.

All of the children should recover, and only one was held for any kind of advanced treatment and health testing. Regardless of the relatively minor nature of the injuries, the parents and the kids themselves are likely to be wary of boarding school buses for a while.

Driving a bus full of children can be difficult, but few jobs demand performance that is as close to flawless as possible. Nothing is more valuable than the health and lives of the youngsters with which bus drivers are entrusted, often multiple times a day. Individuals transporting children to class and school-related events must drive carefully and cautiously at all times, and they must remain focused at all times. When a school bus operator’s attention wanders, tragedy can result.

EJL