An Adams County school bus driver lost her life on Sunday, September 11th, after her school bus collided with a concrete fixture at the Denver International Airport. The driver had just picked up 28 members of the Legacy High School football team, as well as four adult supervisors. Initial reports state that along with the driver losing her life, 15 other passengers required hospitalization, 2 in critical condition and 2 in serious condition.
The cause of the accident is not known at this time. The late bus driver’s husband has stated adamantly that his wife had never experienced a serious health problem, did not use medication, and had no history of drug abuse. Investigators have not ruled out that a mechanical failure could be the cause of the crash. The driver had been employed for more than four years and had a clean record.
School Bus Safety Features Lacking
Images of the crash site shows a major portion of the front of the bus having completely crumpled and collapsed. There are also scrapes along the concrete pillar, suggesting it was not a full-frontal impact. Many other vehicles traveling at the apparent speed of the school bus likely would not have sustained such extensive damage and could have protected the driver and passenger from serious injury.
The accident and its consequences highlight pressing issues with school bus safety and designs. Crush zones on school buses are essentially nonexistent, meaning any impact is transferred to occupants, rather than the vehicle itself. A complete lack of seatbelts also likely caused passengers in this accident to suffer injuries that would have been entirely prevented had there been safety belts. This has been an issue with school bus safety for decades, and yet no actions have been taken to implement them.
At The Gilbert Law Group®, P.C., as one of the nation’s leading auto defect law firms, our Denver auto accident lawyers are interested in how this case will develop. If it can be concluded that a lack of bus safety features or poor bus design caused the accident or worsened the injuries, it might finally be the case that makes legislators push for revision. For more information about the bus accident case, you can visit The Denver Post for their article by clicking here. To learn about our law firm’s work, or to retain our help with an injury case of your own, you can contact us online or call 888.711.5947 for a free consultation.
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