Posted on 10/16/2005 7:39:47 AM PDT by MineralMan
Seat belts on school buses is a bad idea for obvious reasons. School buses are safe the way they are.
I sure don't know that!
I think you must be sarcastic, saying that.
Say it, what you want to say.
Thanks SJackson - this story is way too sad. Hometown kids dying in a schoolbus. No safety restraints. I don't understand why schoolbuses are excempt!
No sarcasm, there a lots of reasons why seatbelts are a bad idea in the context of a school bus, and not all have to do with money.
I don't have time now to elaborate, just use Google to find debates and articles going over the issues involved.
Bus Crash Victims Identified
Near Osseo
Oct 16, 2005
The Wisconsin State Patrol has released the names of the people killed in a motorcoach crash Sunday. The victims include Douglas Greenhalgh, the Chippewa Falls High School band director. Students say he was like a second father to many of them and most people referred to him simply as 'G'. His wife also died in the crash. Therese Greenhalgh was 51. Students say she often went with her husband on band trips. The couple's granddaughter was also killed. Morgan Greenhalgh was 11. The bus driver died. Paul Rasmus was from Chippewa Falls. He was 78. Brandon Atherton also died. He was a 24-year-old student at UW-Eau Claire. The university says he was from Waukesha, Wisconsin and was majoring in music education. He was a student teacher at Chi-Hi.
all I have to say is that for all the "RIGHTS" that are demanded by the senior citizens in this country, you would think the word "REPSONSIBILITY" would crop up now and again....
as in, why is a 78 yro driving a bus full of young people in the middle of the night?
of course, we can't question his age, can we....its not politically correct....
and we all know that senior citizens don't suffer from diminishing eyesight, or reflexes, or judgement, or from fatique or just tiredness from the meds they take....
nope...a 78 yro is just as spry as a 28 yro....
The semi-driver said he did not fall asleep, which probably means he did fall asleep.
Sounds like this wasn't the bus drivers fault. I'm from Eau Claire so I've been following this pretty close. Semi-Driver went off on the shoulder, tried to correct it and the semi jack-knifed ending up on its side with the bottom of the truck facing oncoming traffic. It was 2:00 in the morning so not much traffic and the bus came cruising along at interstate speed never seeing the truck because there were no lights on the bottom of the truck. No skid marks to be found on the interstate, so looks like nobody saw it coming. Sad stuff. Thoughts and prayers.
That's a divided interstate there, right?
"never seeing the truck because there were no lights on the bottom of the truck."
There was clear sky and a bright full moon high in the sky.
yes its a divided highway
The semi started going off the road and then veered back on, causing it to jackknive and flip over across the road... The bus ran into what was the bottom of the semi trailer.
It's very sad. Our school's band is sending flowers and such...
If you have been in a really bad bus crash where seat belts were not in use.....say, if for example the bus were to go off of a bridge, or hit a jacknifed trailer, OR if you know someone who has been in such an accident, then you might be qualified to give an opinion about the potential benefit of seat belts on these vehicles.
It would appear that the truck was operating with a suspended license.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5672984.html
*SJackson........send me an updated UMWest ping list.
Thanks...*
It's obviously not the case, but people believe it.
It's nothing but criminal neglect, IMO.
When I lived in Nevada, a friend of mine was a chaperone on a school trip at Mt. Charleston. On the way down, the brakes failed on the bus and it flipped on it's side. She was thrown out a window and was horribly injured. I think a seat belt would have prevented her being thrown out. Thankfully, nobody died.
Wednesday update: They can't find the truck driver.
The tractor-trailer driver involved in Sunday’s deadly crash near Osseo, WI is missing.
Michael Kozlowski has not been seen since investigators questioned and released him.
Kozlowski’s family members have not heard from him, and they are worried. “We have been trying to reach him, and we haven’t been able to,” says one family member.
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS traveled to Kozlowski’s hometown of Munster, IN in search of Kozlowski. His driving record indicates an address in Highland, but those neighbors have never heard of him.
Wisconsin officials say he was returned to Indiana by his employer, Whole Foods. The company declined to comment on questions surrounding his whereabouts.
Investigators would like to re-interview Kozlowski later this week in connection with the crash. Any possible charges would not be filed until the investigation into the accident is complete.
http://kstp.com/article/stories/S11335.html?cat=1
The bus driver's record:
bus driver Paul Rasmus -
>>>a property damage accident in January 2003 and a conviction for driving 11 to 19 miles per hour over the speed limit in September 2003. Rasmus held a valid bus driver's license and had driven 13 years for the Chippewa Trails bus company.
Trucker's:
>>> two speeding tickets in 2001 as well as the one last April that led to suspension of his license, according to the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
It was unclear Tuesday whether Kozlowski was in compliance with federal regulations limiting truckers to 11 hours on the road between rests.
updates
Also:
AP) Eau Claire, Wis. A truck driver involved in a weekend crash that killed five people returning from a school band trip could face charges that include reckless homicide, the Eau Claire County district attorney says.
District Attorney Richard White said Tuesday he would not make any decisions until a criminal investigation concludes. But he said he was considering whether to file charges against semi driver Michael John Kozlowski, 22, that could include negligent homicide and reckless homicide.
Kozlowski's semi jackknifed and rolled onto its side early Sunday on Interstate 94 near Osseo. A bus filled with Chippewa Falls High School band students, teachers and chaperones then crashed into it. Kozlowski was driving with a suspended license after failing to pay a fine for a speeding ticket in Indiana, authorities have said.
White said to support a homicide charge, he would need more evidence than just the suspended license. He said a homicide charge would require proof the driver was distracted or otherwise failed in his driving responsibilities.
"The pertinent point is not per se his driving status because he may have been operating without a drivers' license," White told The Associated Press. "It's why did this collision take place.
"In this instance, it really does depend on the result of the investigation."
White said driving with a suspended license is a civil infraction that carries a small fine.
http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_292084320.html
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