School zones are often congested and busy areas. Parents in cars, vans and trucks dropping off or picking up children, school buses and pedestrians make the streets around schools especially dangerous and greatly increase the likelihood that an accident will occur.
More than a dozen Alabama students were recently injured after the school bus in which they were passengers collided with a car. The accident occurred outside of an Alabama high school around 7:30 a.m. when the bus collided with a car driven by a male high school student.
A total of thirteen students who were onboard the school bus at the time of the accident required medical attention at a nearby hospital for injuries. The driver of the car that collided with the school bus did not appear to be injured, but was taken to the hospital for further medical evaluation.
While initial reports indicate that no students were seriously injured in this car and bus accident, even seemingly minor injuries are often more serious and can result in long-term pain and suffering. Injuries commonly sustained in bus accidents include those to the neck and spine as well as to the head. Additionally, cuts and bruises are common injuries as items on a bus shift around or become projectiles during impact.
It’s not clear in this case whether the driver of the car or the bus driver was at fault. Regardless, when parents allow a child to ride a school bus, they are entrusting the school district and individual bus driver with the safety and wellbeing of that child.
Source: Alabama Live, “No serious injuries in school bus wreck on Danville Road in Morgan County,” Kelly Kazek, Feb. 12, 2013
