A recent school bus collision in Fulton MO was nowhere near as serious as it might have been, when twenty students from kindergarten to twelfth grade fortunately escaped injury. The twenty-first bus rider, a five year old boy, was not so lucky. Columbia bus accident lawyers learned that he was rushed to Columbia's University Hospital with a bump on the head, but we did not hear how serious his condition was. Hitting one's head in a motor vehicle accident is one of the leading causes of traumatic brain injury; hopefully this little boy's injury was not serious.
School bus accidents have been in the news more frequently than one would like since the start of this school term. Although they have various causes, the cause of this one was particularly troubling. According to Fulton Police, the bus driver, Patricia Klott, 54, of Warrenton, Mo, caused the accident by failing to yield to an oncoming SUV.
The accident occurred Tuesday morning, Nov. 8, as the bus was ferrying the kids to school. The driver was heading westbound on Highway 54 in Fulton and attempted to cross a divided highway on County Rd. 210. She collided with a Kia Sorrento driven by Becky Crocker, 48, of Fulton.
Crocker was also taken to University Hospital with moderate injuries. Both vehicles had to be towed from the scene. Photos showed the whole front end of the bus was totaled.
This dangerous incident illustrates the dangers of not yielding to vehicles with the right of way. This seems a particularly important thing for a bus driver to pay attention to. But it could have been much worse: This two vehicle collision could easily have turned into a chain reaction accident, as a heavily loaded semi-truck was traveling right behind the Kia. Fortunately, that trucker was on the ball that morning and managed to stop safely without hitting either of the other vehicles.
As regular readers of this blog know, semi-trucks take much longer to stop than cars or even school buses do, because of their immense weight and size. If a loaded tractor trailer must come to a sudden stop, it runs a considerable risk of overturning, jackknifing or running off the road.
"It had the potential to be horrible," Fulton Police Lt. Lyla Robbins said. "The truck driver was paying attention and got the loaded rig stopped."
North Callaway School Superintendent Dr. Bryan Thomsen said parents of the other children involved were taking them private doctors or to the emergency room on their own.
"We just want to make sure that everyone involved is okay," Thomsen said. "We will continue to monitor them and make sure there are no injuries."
Although most large school buses have no seat belts, the seats are designed and constructed in such a way as to prevent injury in case of an accident. This design feature is more effective in a crash like this one, where the bus crashed head first into the side of an SUV, than it would have been if the SUV crashed into the side of the bus.
Columbia Injury Lawyers Advise Always Seeing a Doctor After a Car or Bus Accident
It is surprisingly common for people to walk away seemingly unscathed after an accident, and believe they are uninjured. In fact, the shock of the accident and the rush of adrenaline can mask even serious injuries. Aches, pains, headaches, numbness, whiplash, pinched nerves and other even more serious symptoms may crop up in the next few days.
Immediate medical care is not just common sense: it is important if your accident leads to filing a personal injury claim against the parties responsible.
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The Columbia bus accident lawyers at Aaron Sachs & Associates, P.C. offer a no-cost, no-obligation initial consultation at our Columbia law offices. Call us today if you have been injured in an accident and need legal assistance.
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