Four Killed in School Bus Crash

WTHR Indy ^ | 09/26/08 | wthr.com

[Right_Handed_Writer]

Cass County - Four people died in a crash involving a school bus in Cass County Friday afternoon. Three of the dead are confirmed to be students.

The bus belongs to the Twin Lakes School Corporation in Monticello. The crash, which also involved two dump trucks, happened on US 24 about six miles west of Logansport...

...Indiana State Police say the school bus was headed westbound as two dump trucks headed eastbound. A moped or other small vehicle stopped or slowed down to turn.

The first dump truck could not stop in time and tried to avoid the moped by moving into the opposite lane. That truck clipped the back of the school bus, sending it onto its side towards the ditch. The second dump truck hit the bus as it slid into the ditch, crushing the body of the bus.

[Right_Handed_Writer]

These were special needs kids on this bus. Keep them and their families in your prayers.

[Gondring]

My thoughts areith the families and survivors.

[EDINVA]

Oh, dear. What a horrib tragedy. Certainly will offer up prayers for the students (and it sounds like driver?) who were killed, and their families.

[Right_Handed_Writer]

[Sherman Logan]

A horrible situation, but a classic lesser of two evils.

Would have been better to take out the moped, killing one person only.

[grame]

This is a very narrow road with turn offs but no deceleration lanes. I used to deliver mail along this road. We have a lot of road construction going on right now and many many dump trucks on the roads.

What a tragedy for so many families. My heart and prayers go out to all.

[nobama08]

Who was driving the dump trucks?

[lightman]

Would have been better to take out the moped, killing one person only.

Indeed. Poor target selection. Inappropriate triage.

[MediaMole]

From observation, dump truck drivers are generally the most aggressive and dangerous of all drivers of large, commercial vehicles. Tailgating, speeding and running red lights.

[itsthejourney]

Oh, my. Prayers for the children and their families.

Earlier in the week was another big truck/bus accident. The truck ran into the back of the bus causing the bus to catch fire. Passersby rushed to pull children from the burning bus. One child died. So very, very sad.

[Redbob]

"Who was driving the dump trucks?"

The party responsible for all the deaths;

Let others pray for the dead; I'll curse the truck driver.

[mtnwmn]

As a former school bus driver I have observed this to be true. You left out going too fast around curves and their loads shifting.....most are totally irresponsible. I wonder what the statistics say.

[pctech]

This happened in my home state and I'm familiar with the accident location. That road is always dangerous because of the trucks coming out of gravel pits hauling stone and gravel.

That damned truck driver wasn't paying attention and caused the accident that killed 4 kids. I can't tell you how times that happens around here. A truck like that killed a high schooler riding his bike right before school started last month near Western High School. They run stop signs, stop lights, pass when they ain't supposed to, not pay attention when driving and crap like this happens.

[mysterio]

Prayers for the kids and families.

[SunTzuWu]

I'm more inclined to blame the scooter driver. These things are worse than the Critical Mass bikers. There are more and more of these things on the road and they are a serious hazard. They drive 35 mph in 45 to 55 mph zones causing backups at intersections as they crawl through at walking speed. On narrow roads they cause cars to swerve into oncoming lanes as you suddenly come up on them.

Based on the photos this looks like a highway. Not the proper place for a bike or a scooter. And the best thing? No license or insurance is required.

[CindyDawg]

Wasn’t it yesterday that a big rig ran into the back of a bus?

[mysterio]

Not sure, didn’t hear about it.

[Starwolf]

Most scooter can easily keep up with the speed limits. If they can't they need to be cited and removed from the Interstates. This was a local road and the scooter was nearly rear ended.

As a motorcyclist, the real issue is the cagers (car and truck drivers) just don't see us. Gravel trucks or soccer moms, we are all invisible. More than one of the latter has spilled her latte when I used my dual 142db horns to warn her back in her lane.

[SunTzuWu]

Most scooter can easily keep up with the speed limits.

No. They can't, which was to whole point of my post.

As a motorcyclist...

I wasn't talking about motorcycles, they are legitimate vehicles that can keep up with traffic. I was talking about scooters and mopeds which are small, underpowered and, as the dealers proudly advertise, unlicensed and uninsured.