INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS
Kentucky State Police Find Bus Driver at Fault in Crash that Killed 2 Preschoolers
In July Kentucky State Police released the cause of a 2012 Carroll County,
Ky., school bus crash that took the lives of two preschool students. Investigators said it was operator error on the part of the bus driver. No charges were filed against the bus driver, Laura Reed, even though she
was found at fault in the crash that killed two 3-year-olds, Caroline Tuttle and Ryder Deitz. Investigators called the crash “a tragic accident,” noting that they did look into Reed’s driving record and found she had completed all the proper training and had no prior incidents. In addition to Reed, a bus monitor and nine children were on board the bus when it crashed during an extremely windy day Oct. 29. Te bus monitor and seven other Head Start students suffered injuries and were rushed to the hospi- tal. Everyone on the bus was reportedly wearing seat belts. Reed told investigators she steered the small bus off the road to let another
car pass, reports WHAS11, but she lost control when she tried to get the bus back on the road. Reed also told them another vehicle “did not do anything to force her off the road,” said Trooper Brad Arterburn. Te accident reconstruction found Reed caused the crash by over-correcting
and over-steering, causing the bus to veer off the two-lane county road and wrap around a tree, according to investigators. Arterburn noted the small school bus was not speeding, and toxicology reports found that Reed had no drugs or alcohol in her system at the time.
CAUGHT ON TAPE
In July, a severe school bus beating caught on video in Gulfport, Fla., shocked the nation with just the latest example of school violence. Two 15-year- old boys were charged breaking the victim's arms and blackening his eye, allegedly because the younger boy reported to school officials earlier that the other two tried to sell him marijuana. Another 15-year-old boy was being held at this writing on a psychological evaluation after joining in on the attack and then- stealing the victim's wallet. School bus driver John Moody was blasted in the
media for not coming to the defense of the victim. In the video, Moody, who was driving when the attack began, yells repeatedly for the attackers to stop and calls dispatch for help. A Pinellas County Schools spokeswoman said Moody met the minimum require- ments for immediately reporting the incident and pulling the bus to the side of the
road.She added that school bus drivers are allowed to physically break up a fight if they deem it safe. Moody, who retired shortly after the July 9 incident,
said he feared for his own safety. Share your thoughts on our Linkedin group at
www.stnonline.com/go/31.
34 School Transportation News September 2013
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