What You Need To Know About School Bus Accidents in Kentucky

In October 2012, two children, both 3 years old, were killed when the school bus they were riding in flipped and hit a tree in Carrollton, KY, according to www.wsaz.com.  Parents of the children have filed a lawsuit against the school district.

This is the not the first time that Carrollton residences have been faced with a bus tragedy. In 1988, the town suffered a bus accident that killed 24 students and 3 adults. This collision, the nation’s deadliest drunk-driving accident, occurred when a drunk driver hit head-on a bus that was being used for a church activity.

Closer to home, a Fayette County school bus was hit by a car on November 12, 2012 but there were no school children on board. The driver of the car was injured.

According to a LEX18.com report, records show that the state’s 10,000 school buses are involved in hundreds of incidents each year, ranging from major wrecks to hitting a mailbox. The report said that there were 1,343 school bus incidents in 2010-11 according to an Associated Press analysis of data provided by the Kentucky Department of Education.

The report shows that a school bus in Kentucky was more likely to be involved in an incident during the afternoon on a two-lane road under clear skies with dry road conditions than under hazardous driving conditions. The majority of accidents involved a school bus and another moving vehicle.

According to the National Highway Transportation Administration, school buses are the safest way to transport students to and from school. The buses have been designed to protect passengers against injury and accidents with reinforced sides, high resistance to roof crushes, better mirror visibility and trained drivers.

While statistics confirm that a student has less chance of being injured on the way to and from school on a school bus than in a car, the numbers provide no support if you or your student is hurt in a school bus accident. If you are injured in a school bus accident, it is important to contact a Kentucky personal injury attorney to discuss what your rights are.