A minor collision involving an off-duty Houston police officer and a school bus brought traffic to a standstill on northbound North Freeway at rush hour today, officials said.

The accident has since been cleared and the northbound lanes of  the freeway near Gulf Bank have been reopened to traffic. At one point, motorists were being forced to exit at Highway 249, diverted to the frontage road and allowed to re-enter to the freeway at the next entrance.

Houston Transtar officials said the school bus was rear-ended by the police officer. The bus suffered no significant damage and none of the students on board was injured. But traffic was brought to a virtual standstill for almost an hour.

To make matters worse, a motorist watching the accident scene while driving in the HOV lane rear-ended another vehicle, bringing traffic there to a stop and trapping cars between the barricades. An ambulance was dispatched because of reported injuries in the second incident. The damaged cars have been pushed to the side and the HOV lane is moving again.

Source: chron.com

Eight people were injured during a Metro bus accident in northwest Houston this afternoon, authorities said.

The bus was traveling north in the 5100 block of Antoine near Hoover around 5 p.m. when it was rear-ended by a car, said Metro spokeswoman Carolina Mendoza.

Six passengers aboard the bus as well as the driver and passenger of the car were taken to area-hospitals including Spring Branch, Northwest Memorial Hermann and Methodist, Mendoza said. She added that the extent of their injuries are unknown at this time.

The driver of the car did receive a traffic citation for failure to control speed, Mendoza said.

Source: chron.com

Rock Creek Public School students were back in class Wednesday, and buses are running normally just over 24 hours after several students were injured in a school bus accident on U.S. Highway 70 East of Bokchito. First News reporter Rita Kotey looked at the laws regarding school buses stopped on busy roads.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Steve Nabors has been a police officer for many years, but he says nothing could have prepared him for Tuesday’s bus accident. Nabors says when a call comes in, and it’s a school bus that level of urgency really arises because they know there are children involved.

Many question why the bus was stopped on a major rural highway. We thought to find out what the state law says about stopped buses.

Oklahoma State Law says buses can stop anywhere, but drivers must look for warning lights and a stop sign on the bus. Motorists must stop a safe distance behind the bus.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a city, street, or county road, or a state or a U.S. highway, but if a school bus is stopped with the lights activated, everybody is required to stop. It doesn’t matter where you are,” Nabors says.

But in Tuesday’s crash the students not only had to get off the bus on the highway, they also had to cross the road to get home.

“That’s why there is a law that allows them to stop, and they are allowed to stop. But it is everybody else’s responsibility to obey that stop,” says Nabors.

Nabors says it’s unlikely the law will change because it is a state and federal law, but he says the best way to keep children safe is for adults to follow the rules.

“There is no clear cut solution than for everybody to pay attention when they are around a school bus, especially at 3:15 to 3:20 in the afternoon. The school buses are well marked, uniformly marked and everybody in the state is uniformly in compliance with their laws on what is required by the public.”

Nabors says there is a fine of $100 to pass stopped school buses. In the case of the driver of the semi Tuesday, he has not been issued a citation or charged with any crime, but as OHP continues their investigation, they say if they issue a citation, it will be for driver inattention.

Source: kxii.com

BRYAN COUNTY, Okla. ― Emergency personnel in Bryan Co. responded to an accident involving a semi and a Rock Creek school bus that injured 7 people on U.S. Highway 70 East, 2 miles east of downtown Bokchito at 3:20 p.m. Tuesday.

Six students and the adult bus driver were on board when a semi ran into the the back of the school bus as it was coming to a stop in the east-bound lane of Highway 70.

O.H.P. says that the bus had not yet come to a complete stop when it was hit, however, the flashing red lights as well as the flip-out stop sign had already been activated.

Three students seated in the back of the bus were ejected upon impact. Two of those students were flown from the scene to Parkland Hospital in Dallas by medical helicopter. They are identified as 16-year-old Jennifer Russell and 16-year-old Chase Thompson.

As of 10 p.m. Tuesday night, Russell was listed in stable condition, but at that time, Thompson was in surgery suffering from head trauma.

The third ejected student was Chase Thompson’s brother, Briar. He was originally transported to the Medical Center of Southeastern Oklahoma hospital in Durant by ambulance, but was soon thereafter flown by helicopter to Children’s Hospital in Dallas. As of 10 p.m. Tuesday night he was listed in stable condition.

Also as of 10 p.m. Tuesday night, two of the other students were still under observation at M.C.S.O. after being transported there by ambulance.

The remaining student actually managed to walk to his house from the scene of the accident, and was driven to M.C.S.O. by his mother. He was treated and released shortly thereafter.

Brad McKnight is identified as the driver of the school bus, and according to the O.H.P. he was treated and released by M.C.S.O. as well. McKnight is also the head coach of the Rock Creek boys basketball team.

The driver of the 18-wheeler was not injured in the wreck, and was not transported from the scene.

O.H.P. says that the semi, including cargo, weighed approximately 70,000 lbs.

None of the students were in the process of exiting the bus when it was struck, since it had not yet come to a full stop.

BRYAN COUNTY, Okla. ― Rock Creek Public School students were back in class Wednesday, and buses are running normally just over 24 hours after several students were injured in a school bus accident on U.S. Highway 70 East of Bokchito. First News reporter Rita Kotey looked at the laws regarding school buses stopped on busy roads.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Steve Nabors has been a police officer for many years, but he says nothing could have prepared him for Tuesday’s bus accident. Nabors says when a call comes in, and it’s a school bus that level of urgency really arises because they know there are children involved.

Many question why the bus was stopped on a major rural highway. We thought to find out what the state law says about stopped buses.

Oklahoma State Law says buses can stop anywhere, but drivers must look for warning lights and a stop sign on the bus. Motorists must stop a safe distance behind the bus.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a city, street, or county road, or a state or a U.S. highway, but if a school bus is stopped with the lights activated, everybody is required to stop. It doesn’t matter where you are,” Nabors says.

But in Tuesday’s crash the students not only had to get off the bus on the highway, they also had to cross the road to get home.

“That’s why there is a law that allows them to stop, and they are allowed to stop. But it is everybody else’s responsibility to obey that stop,” says Nabors.

Nabors says it’s unlikely the law will change because it is a state and federal law, but he says the best way to keep children safe is for adults to follow the rules.

“There is no clear cut solution than for everybody to pay attention when they are around a school bus, especially at 3:15 to 3:20 in the afternoon. The school buses are well marked, uniformly marked and everybody in the state is uniformly in compliance with their laws on what is required by the public.”

Nabors says there is a fine of $100 to pass stopped school buses. In the case of the driver of the semi Tuesday, he has not been issued a citation or charged with any crime, but as OHP continues their investigation, they say if they issue a citation, it will be for driver inattention.

Nine children and two adults were injured in an accident involving two Irving ISD school buses this afternoon on Stemmons Freeway in northwest Dallas.

None of the children from T.J. Lee Elementary School was seriously injured, said Abby Knagg, a spokeswoman for Dallas County Schools.

“They might be a little shaken up, but everybody appears to be OK,” she said.

The children were taken to Children’s Medical Center Dallas and both drivers were taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital.

The accident occurred about 2 p.m. when one bus rear-ended the other on southbound Interstate 35E just north of Royal Lane.

The 85 students were on their way back to school from a field trip to Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Center.

The accident caused delays on I-35E this afternoon.

No children where hurt in an accident involving a car and a San Elizario Independent School District bus carrying students from Alarcon Elementary in the Lower Valley.
San Elizario officials said only the driver of the car suffered injuries.

The district has informed parents to pick up their children at the site of the accident, but a second school bus will be dispatched to the site of the accident to take the remaining children home.

Authorities say a 3-year-old Proctor girl was killed when a vehicle in which she was riding overturned on U.S. 62 in Adair County.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says Mercedes Gallardo suffered head and internal injuries and died at the scene of the 8:33 a.m. accident about six miles west of Westville on Saturday.

The patrol says the car driven by 35-year-old Dena Gallardo was headed east on the highway when it failed to negotiate a curve, dropped off the right side of the road, struck an embankment and overturned once, throwing Mercedes and the others out.

Dena Gallardo, 7-year-old Romona Gallardo and 6-year-old Maria Gallardo were admitted to Northwest Arkansas Medical Center in Springdale in stable condition.

The patrol says none of the occupants wore seat belts.

Source: mywesttexas.com

A sixth bus accident occurred at approximately 11 a.m.  Monday in the 3400 block of Andrews Highway.

No one was injured and there were no one was on board except the driver and bus monitor, Midland ISD Communications Director Woodrow Bailey said. The bus had just dropped secondary students off at the Advanced Technology Center.

Midland Police Department Public Information Officer Tina Jauz said a Toyota Tacoma truck was eastbound on Andrews Highway with a school bus following behind. The vehicles approached the light at Alpine Street, the light turned red, the truck stopped and the bus rear-ended it, Jauz said.

No one was injured or transported to the hospital. Bus driver Herman Jefferson was cited for following too closely.

Assistant Superintendent for Finance David Garcia said the bus accidents have all been minor, so there is no indication of an insurance rate increase.

Bus accidents since the beginning of the school year:

- Sept. 9: Midland ISD bus driver Susan Spear, 50, was arrested on three counts of driving while intoxicated with child and cited for following too closely following a bus accident around 7:43 a.m. near the intersection of Midkiff and Golf Course roads. Bailey said Monday that Spear is still on administrative leave. She is represented by attorney Edward T. Garza.

- The week of Sept. 8-12: a second accident occurred in Midland County.

- Sept. 16: bus/car accident occurred at 7:54 a.m. at Loop 250 near the I-HOP restaurant at the Garfield Street exit. A 2000 Ford Focus was rear-ended.

-Sept. 16: On Loop 250 near Grande Stadium, a bus with no passengers was in an accident. Communications Director Woodrow Bailey said the driver was not ticketed.

Sept. 22: A bus carrying 22 Alamo Junior High volleyball players, plus the coach, collided with a car at 4:45 p.m. at Andrews Highway and Midland Drive. No one was injured. The driver was cited for making an improper turn.