Personal Injury Law

Bus filled with teenagers crashes in Dallas County, Missouri

By Ryan Bradley, Esq.

Seven teenagers were injured in a Missouri school bus crash when a small bus run by a river resort crashed Sunday morning on Moon Valley Road near Bennett Springs, Missouri.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the bus was carrying the teens westbound near the Fort Niangua River Resort. The driver, Steven Newman, 53, moved to the right to avoid an oncoming vehicle. In doing so, he ran off the side of the roadway and down an embankment where the bus overturned, coming to a rest on its roof.

Brittnie Pratt, 17, and Chloe Schmidt, 17, were the most seriously injured. Among the others that were injured were Colleen Armstrong, 16; Chelsea Bryant, 17; Brittney Green, 17; Lauryn Salts, 17; and Elizabeth Wadsack, 17. Most of the girls were taken to St. John?s Hospital for treatment.

While many of the girls knew each other from attending Camdenton High School, they were not attending a school function and the bus was not affiliated with the school.

The initial crash report indicates the bus moved to avoid an oncoming vehicle, but it did not list the second vehicle?s driver or if authorities even know who it was.

School bus crashes are relatively rare and usually riding the bus is a safe mode of transportation. When accidents like this happen, however, the people that are injured need to contact an experienced bus accident lawyer as soon as possible. There are several ways to pursue a claim in this situation. If an investigation into the injury crash reveals the bus driver was negligent in operating the bus, the girls and their family may be able to make a claim against him or the river resort. If the bus was indeed forced off the road by a second car and that driver can be located, he may be held responsible for the injuries sustained in the crash.

Full post as published by Missouri Accident Lawyer Blog on August 16, 2009 (boomark / email).