According to reports, a charter bus carrying the University of Alabama cheerleading squad was involved in a multi-vehicle car accident on its way home from the BCS championship game Tuesday night. The accident occurred in Montgomery and left a UA student in another vehicle seriously injured.
The bus was carrying 31 members of the cheerleading squad at the time of the accident, but nobody on the bus was injured. At this point, details on the accident have not been released, but it appears that a pickup and a car were also involved. A student riding in the pickup reportedly suffered life-threatening injuries in the accident and had to be taken to an area hospital by ambulance.
A spokeswoman from the university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, confirmed that the seriously injured person was a UA student who was traveling with three other students. She said that the four students in the pickup were not traveling with the cheerleaders’ bus. The student has since been listed in stable condition.
It is likely that an investigation is already taking place to determine the cause of the accident. Because the charter bus had been contracted by the university, it is possible that the university could face liability if negligence on behalf of the bus driver was responsible for the accident. Additionally, the bus company and the bus driver could also face liability if this was the case.
Of course, at this point we don’t know who was at fault for the accident. If the driver of the pickup truck or the car was at fault, then he or she could face liability. That’s why a complete investigation is very important.
Source: NBC Sports, “Alabama cheerleaders’ bus collides returning home,” Jan. 9, 2013
