Almost on a daily basis, parents trust bus drivers for the transport of their children to and from school in a safe manner. Unfortunately parents may not realize that, for complete safety of their children, they must also trust other motor vehicle drivers to operate their vehicles responsibly in the vicinity of school buses. Sadly, one of many recent avoidable truck accidents in Pennsylvania involved a collision with a school bus and resulted in the death of a school bus driver.
Reportedly, the 54-year-old bus driver was alone on the bus and was just beginning her route when the accident occurred. The bus driver had apparently began to slow to a stop to pick up her first students of the day just prior to the collision. The 59-year-old man driving the tri-axle truck carrying a heavy load apparently did not notice the yellow caution lights warning of the bus’s impending stop. He collided into the rear of the bus and came to a stop after crashing into a home off the side of the road.
The bus driver was thrown from the bus despite evidence that she was wearing proper seat belt restraints. She did not survive the injuries she suffered from the accident. The bus driver was transferred to a medical facility and is being treated for his injuries. Fortunately, since it was the first stop of the day, no students were on the bus and none were injured. Authorities suspect speeding by the truck driver may have resulted in the crash, and drug tests are pending.
The bus driver’s family is surely devastated and overwhelmed while dealing with the aftermath of her death. Her surviving family members may benefit from speaking with a Pennsylvania personal injury attorney with experience concerning truck accidents regarding their litigation rights and options in civil court. Evidence of a prior history of speeding, current evidence in the investigation and criminal charges may all help to aide in establishing negligent driving by the truck driver. If negligence is formally established, a court may award monetary compensation to the surviving family for accident-related expenses and suffering.
Source: pennlive.com, “Trucker faces questions in fatal Pa. school bus crash“, John Luciew, April 13, 2017
