South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog
The State Attorney’s office is looking into a recent school bus accident in St. Lucie County. According to accident reports, the 56-year-old driver of the bus may be cited with a traffic offense or with a criminal charge. The Palm Beach Post reports that the driver wasn’t paying attention at the wheel when he turned the school bus right into the path of an oncoming semi.
In the accident, an 8-year-old was killed and 15 others were injured. The accident happened just before 4:00 p.m. at the intersection of Okeechobee Road and Midway Road.
Our St. Lucie injury attorneys understand that we put our young kids on the bus and expect them to be safe. We expect bus drivers to practice the safest driving habits and to keep our children out of accidents. Unfortunately, bus drivers don’t always make the safest decisions and put our young ones at serious risks. If your child has been involved in a school bus accident, it’s critical for you to contact an experienced attorney.
The school bus driver was heading down Okeechobee Road when he went to make a left onto Midway. He drove the bus right into the path of an oncoming semi that was hauling sod. Upon collision, the bus was spun 180 degrees and caused the semi to flip over. Students who were injured in the wreck were transported to the St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach.
One of the students on the bus was put into a medically induced coma. He suffered from serious head injuries.
Officials say that drugs and alcohol are not suspected in the accident. They add that weather conditions were not a factor either.
The bus driver is no longer employed with the St. Lucie County School District.
More details on the accident will not be released until the investigation has been completed.
There are nearly 800 buses transporting children for the School Distract of Palm Beach. These buses help to get nearly 100,000 students to where they’ve got to be each and every day.
Parents are asked to talk with their children about school bus safety. Teach them how to safely wait for the school bus off the road and away from traffic. Remind them that it’s important to stay seated and quiet while the bus is in motion. The school bus is not a playground. It’s important to practice safe riding habits during their trips to and from school and other events. Their safe riding habits will help the bus driver to pay more attention to the road and help everyone to get to and from school safely.
If you or your child has been injured, contact Freeman, Mallard, Sharp & Gonzalez, LLC for a free and confidential consultation at 1-800-561-7777.
Additional Resources:
State Attorney’s Office begins its St. Lucie school bus crash investigation, by Elliott Jones, The Palm Beach Post
More Blog Entries:
School bus accidents in Port St. Lucie often caused by operator negligence, contact an experienced law firm immediately, South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog, May 12, 2011
12-year-old school bus rider seriously injured in South Florida pedestrian accident, South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog, October 2, 2010