Bad school bus crash...

[AustinBoston]

...this morning less than one mile from my house.

The bus was headed north on Minn. Highway 65 near Constance Blvd (Co. Rd. 60) in Ham Lake, Minnesota when apparently the brakes failed.  The bus broadsided an SUV that was stopped at the light, then stopped when it hit the light pole.  At least one other vehicle was involved in the crash.  At least 24 people, mostly grade school children, have been injured.  The driver of the SUV and one student were airlifted from the scene to a trauma center.

The bus was almost within sight of the school.  Another bus was used to take the uninjured students to the school.  The speed limit on that section of Hwy 65 is 65 MPH.  I have seen vehicles travel in excess of 80 MPH, but have never seen a school bus going over 55 MPH on the road.  In the 3+ years since we have lived in Ham Lake, we have been aware of 8 people airlifted from 5 accidents from that stretch of road, and one fatality.

We have no official word, but based on the number of children we know in this school, injured, it is very likely that we know someone involved in this incident.

Links:
WCCO has a story, pictures, and video.
Star Tribune has story, pictures, map.

Austin

[ScoobyDoo]

Anti Stop Brakes ?

[Kelly]

I thought of you (and your DS) when I saw that story, AB.  Oh man ~ the amount of trust we put into those bus drivers when we send our little ones off to school.    I saw a news story tonight that said that particular bus company has a safety record better than most.  I sure hope all the kids and drivers involved are okay.

[AustinBoston]

I thought of you (and your DS) when I saw that story, AB.  Oh man ~ the amount of trust we put into those bus drivers when we send our little ones off to school.    I saw a news story tonight that said that particular bus company has a safety record better than most.  I sure hope all the kids and drivers involved are okay.

Last I heard, four people, including two students, were still hospitalized.  The driver of the SUV, a mother with at least three small children in her car, was very seriously hurt and still in the hospital.  She may have dropped one or more children at the McKinley School (where the bus was headed) and was on her way home.  The children in the car aparently were all secured in car seats and had minor cuts and bruises.

This driver did a lot of things to deal with the problem when it occured.  Based on an interview with a couple students, she told the students to get ready for a crash, and did it in a way that they understood she meant business.  I don't know if this is something they practice, but at leat one student described what could be called the standard "airplane crash" position.  Another student said "she pumped and pumped the brakes...I had never seen her do that before, so I knew it was real."  She tried to steer out of the situation, going around cars that were stopped at the light, but eventually lost control of the bus.  The bus hit bradside (a.k.a. T-boned) an SUV and hit a station wagon (not necessarily in that order) before hitting a traffic light.

After the crash, the driver remained very professional in evacuating students from the bus (aparently there was some smoke but no fire).  She and a number of other adults escorted them to a nearby convenience store.  One student was injured badly enough that the student was left in place on the bus until removed by paramedics.  That student was airlifted to a trauma center.

One of the store clerks, an older teen who had been on the job for about a month set up a makeshift triage in the store to sort out uninjured, minor injuries, and more serious injuries.  The press is treating this kid as the hero of the day, but there were several others who also responded immediately ad did what needed doing.

There were quite a few broken bones, at least one concussion, and a variety of scrapes and bruises.  At least one student ended up with a "shattered jaw," and the driver of the SUV is still in serious condition.

All of the uninjured children were examined by health professionals within a matter of hours.

It appears that we did not know anyone on the bus, but we will know for sure tomorrow (Sunday) morning.

This could have been far worse than it was.

Austin

[tlhdoc]

Years ago DS's school bus was in an accident.  It was the drivers fault, he made a left hand turn in front of an on coming vehicle and the bus was T-boned.  I received a call from a friend that had a scanner and I went to the school.  DS was fine, but the school never called the parents of the kids on the bus to let them know about the accident.  This was not the way for the school district to handle the accident.