PA School Bus Driver Charged With DUI

When parents put their children on a school bus they assume the children will arrive safely at the school.  They also assume the driver is experienced and responsible.  Unfortunately, for children and their parents in Washington, PA, recently that wasn’t the case.  Their school bus driver was charged with DUI after transporting 3 loads of children while legally drunk.

According to the Observer-Reporter.com, after the school bus driver had made three rounds of bringing students to school, he was preparing to take another group on a field trip.  A teacher noticed that the man appeared to be under the influence and notified the proper authorities.  Police found the driver had a blood alcohol content of .081 – four times the legal limit.  The Huffington Post reports the driver was fired.

Fortunately, no one was injured in this incident.  However, there have been far too many school bus accidents across the United States this year.

Late last month one student died and five others were critically injured when the school bus in which they were riding and a tractor-trailer collided near Port St. Lucie, Florida.  In mid-February, an 11-year-old died and 17 children were injured, after a dump truck and school bus collided in Chesterfield, NJ.

According to an AP article other recent school bus accidents included one in Indianapolis where a school bus driver and a five-year-old died, and two other students were critically injured when the school bus crashed into a railroad bridge, and a school bus near Quincy, Washington went off the road and rolled over leaving dozens of students injured.

1,386 people have died in school transportation-related crashes since 2000 — an average of 139 fatalities per year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Nonetheless, the NHTSA reports school buses are designed to be safer than passenger vehicles.  In addition, school bus drivers must be trained in student behavior management and security procedures, are screened for drug and alcohol use and are trained in rendering first-aid.

Getting our children safely to school is paramount.  Our Pennsylvania bus accident attorneys believe that practicing good, safe driving behaviors is critical for school bus drivers, and it is just as important for all Pennsylvania residents when driving near school zones and around school buses. We encourage all drivers to drive safely and carefully when on our PA highways.

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If you have been injured or a loved one killed in a vehicle or bus accident that was caused by another person’s carelessness or recklessness, you may be able to recover damages that include medical costs, property loss, lost wages, and pain and suffering.  Please call Munley, Munley & Cartwright’s lawyers at 1-800-318-LAW1 for a free assessment of your case or use our free online accident case evaluation.