3 School Bus Crashes Leave Students And Adults Injured

Two weeks ago, we saw three SEPTA bus crashes in one day, all within a period of two hours, with a few adults sustaining minor injuries. Even more disturbing are the three bus accidents that happened on the morning of Monday, Nov. 4, the most serious of which requiring at least six children and an adult to be taken to the hospital. Two of the crashes are still under investigation by police.

The first accident occurred just before 8 a.m. at the intersection of Union and Brown Streets in the neighborhood of Mantua. Reportedly a fender-bender, no kids on the bus were reported hurt, but the driver of the other car and her infant daughter went to the hospital for observation.

Philly School District bus No. 154 was involved in an accident with a truck not long after the first collision, this time in Germantown at Washington Lane and Ardleigh Street. Again, none of the children on board were reported hurt, although one woman was injured, said witnesses at the scene.

The third and most serious accident took place in Delaware just before 9 a.m. A school bus carrying 16 Newark Charter School students was struck by a 2013 Volkswagen Passat. According to the police, the driver, a 59-year-old male, missed a turn to enter the charter school, and was trying to make a U-turn from the right-hand lane along the Christina Parkway when it went into the path of the Passat. The Passat apparently hit the left-front side of the bus hard enough to send six children, ages 5 to 9, to the hospital with minor injuries. The driver of the Passat, a 51-year-old woman, also required hospitalization for minor neck and arm injuries. The driver of the school bus received a citation for improper U-turn.

School bus accidents are particularly disturbing, as every parent’s priority is the safety of their child. By seeking compensation for injuries and property damage when such errors occur, school districts are given a powerful reminder that they must be vigilant in assuring students’ safety on school buses.

Source: 
nbcphiladelphia.com, “3 School Bus Crashes, Some Kids Hurt” Dan Stamm, Nov. 04, 2013