All the children were checked out by Winchester Fire-EMS personnel at the scene but none had any serious injuries. All were taken home from the scene by their parents. Christy said the parents were told to monitor their children and if any experienced any problems during the night to take them to the hospital.
Two children were taken to Clark Regional Medical Center to be checked later, Christy said, but they were treated and released.
There were some reports that the bus was going too fast at the time of the accident, Perdue said, but the video showed that was not the case.
“The video showed that the bus was going 56 mph and we saw that the driver had done nothing wrong. It looked like the bus met the utility truck and it was tight for both of them and the bus wheel dropped off and it was a combination of the weather conditions and the tight roadway,” Perdue said.
Christy said that when he arrived on the scene a few minutes after the accident, a custodian and two teachers from Pilot View were already there with the children as paramedics checked them out.
“Those guys got there in a hurry. When I got there they were talking with the children and had them calmed down while they were being checked by EMS and were calling all the parents to let them know their kids were OK,” Christy said. “Everyone, the police officers and EMS personnel and everyone did an super job and had the scene well managed and controlled. It was just an excellent job.”
Superintendent Elaine Farris said she talked with most of the parents over night and all the students were doing fine.
“I am grateful and thank God that our students and our bus driver escaped this accident with minor injuries. I did have a chance to talk with four of the five sets of parents after they got home to check on the students and the parents. They seemed to be doing pretty good considering what could have happened,” Farris said.
Christy said when he arrived on the scene and saw the bus on its side it made him “weak in the knees,” but he’s thankful things worked out the way they did.
“When you hear about an accident involving kids it just sends chills down your spine, and when I got there and saw the bus my knees got weak,” Christy said. “We were just very fortunate that we got out of this with just a few scrapes. Very fortunate.”
Clark schools has 49 buses on the road each day, carrying more than 3,700 students.
Clark County Fire Department also responded and assisted at the scene.
Contact Bob Flynn at bflynn@winchestersun.com.
