School bus driver fired after wreck

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Emergency responders carry a stretcher to transport an injured student.

School bus driver fired after wreck

Posted by

Rachel McDaniel

in News

Monday, April 5. 2010

Comments (28)

A Pike County school bus driver lost control on a dirt road and hit a tree around 4 p.m. Thursday, April 1. Eleven students were injured in the wreck and three were transported from the scene to area hospitals.

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#1 Anonymous on 04/05/10 at 03:48 PM

gosh, you mean bus drivers don't have unions like teachers, to keep them from being fired when they do something wrong?

#2 Speed Racer on 04/05/10 at 09:02 PM

Daddy always said " if you are going to be dumb, you'd better be tough."

Sissy says " the unemployment office is in in Griffin infrot of Lowes."

Bro says " Do you think I can get a application to fill your spot?"

Mamma says " if you ain't got anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

I guess that I will leave it at that.....

#3 Grandmother of 10 on 04/05/10 at 09:22 PM

I hope this will make the other driver slow their (@@@) down!!!!! If they are in a big hurry they need to find a new job!!!!!!

#4 me on 04/05/10 at 10:41 PM

I know it was a tough call but I'm pretty sure it was the right call!!

#5 Anonymous on 04/06/10 at 05:40 AM

Come on really, that's why it is called an accident. I live on the road that the accident happened and people "f" up there all the time its a bad curve on a dirt road IE: loose gravel. I would have to see the report where she was speeding cause as far as i know all unmarked roads IE: Dirt roads the speed limit is 35. So I wonder if it's just called a CYA for firing her. Also i had family on the bus so don't write a come back saying well this and that unless you come with facts please.

#6 T on 04/06/10 at 05:59 AM

I have driven on Bates road and other dirt roads in our county. Even at slow speeds it is difficult to maintain my lane because of the gravel the county regularly throws down on the roads. It is not unusual to find myself up on top of the gravel instead of holding on to the road. Packed clay turns to muddy holes when it rains but crush n run which is smaller and less expensive than this big stuff and gives better traction as well as crushing and packing. It prevents the problems with sliding around on these roads. I haven't been on Bates lately and I don't know if it has recently been scraped or if it has a new layer of gravel, but the condition of our roads is more of a danger to our children than these bus drivers alone. Granted - even though it is annoying to be behind a bus driving 45 it is better to be inconvenienced than to have these busses flying up and down the roads with our children on seats that are too small and do not have seat-belts. Some drivers do run the stop signs whether busses or cars and each pose a danger to our children. We need to feel our children are safe if we place them on the school bus. I would feel a lot safer if our roads department knew how to properly take care of our roads. For a while it was all but impossible to stop at the end of Eppinger Bridge Road in Concord because they dumped gravel in a low spot where water collects. The roads are more dangerous than the drivers.

#7 Sheila Tolley on 04/06/10 at 06:12 AM

Aunt Bug said,"If the stud and the mare trot....don't expect the colt to pace."

#8 Anonymous on 04/06/10 at 06:57 AM

#9 Anonymous on 04/06/10 at 09:04 AM

I blame it on the county for not paving these dirt roads. They are hazards when it rains and the same bumps and holes keep coming up after they scrape the roads and add new rock.

#10 mike on 04/06/10 at 09:08 AM

Hey, I blame it on the county for not paving these dirt roads. They are hazards when it rains and the same bumps and holes keep coming up after they scrape the roads and add new rock.

#11 Sheila Tolley on 04/06/10 at 09:08 AM

That was short and to the point. I like it.

#12 David Rawlins on 04/06/10 at 09:47 AM

There were many more dirt roads when I grew up here in PC. No wrecks though. Maybe they were better dirt roads.... No, they weren't nearly as well kept as they are now.

She was cited for the accident and fired for being at fault. Don't see how it could be any clearer than that.

#13 Sheila Tolley on 04/06/10 at 10:16 AM

We will jump right on that, after we get that million dollar courthouse renovation completed.
Someone may want to film Tank 2!

#14 Sheila Tolley on 04/06/10 at 10:18 AM

We are going to put up, "Slippery when Wet" signs.

#15 dannyb on 04/06/10 at 10:36 AM

Amen to that, David. I love my dirt road. I blame it on all the folks moving down to Pike and then trying to change it - there are a lot of paved roads in Henry, Fayette and Clayton - get on up there and enjoy those paved roads, they seem to have plenty of houses for sale.

#16 Sheila Tolley on 04/06/10 at 12:46 PM

There is my Danny back. Welcome!!!!

#17 T on 04/06/10 at 12:55 PM

long time PC resident - paving is not the answer - just knowing how to properly maintain the roads

#18 dannyb on 04/06/10 at 02:47 PM

It was hard to come back to the real world, virtually speaking.

#19 annonymous on 04/06/10 at 04:07 PM

I WISH the teachers in Georgia had the right to unionize!!! i doubt very strongly there would be furlough days and benefits stricken from contracts. A contract would really mean something then.

#20 Sheila Tolley on 04/06/10 at 04:35 PM

Or bus. Or driver. Or 70 children. Life is just too complicated on land.

#21 Anonymous on 04/06/10 at 06:18 PM

Also i too have children that were on that bus as well whom have been wrote up before and my child learned there lesson because i an not one of you MY KIDS DO NOTHING WRONG PARENTS. ALL KIDS DO. AGAIN ALL KIDS DO. YOU PARENTS MAY HAVE HAD A BETTER RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR DRIVER IF YOU LISTIN TO YOUR CHILDRENS DRIVERS AND TEACHER. THEY SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOUR KIDS THAN YOU DO.

#22 live on dirt road on 04/06/10 at 08:21 PM

I blame it on the county for not paving these dirt roads. They are hazards when it rains and the same bumps and holes keep coming up after they scrape the roads and add new rock. reply to this--- we do not haft to spend money to pave the dirt roads just need to get people on the job that can fix the roads the correct way, no they just like to spend the tax payers on gravel put it down scrape it to the ditches sorry most of the roads do not have ditches they are full of gravel, they need to take one road at a time and fix it the correct way--Want never be done in my life time---

#23 Anonymous on 04/07/10 at 01:40 PM

Teacher Unions...in this state? are you out of your mind. No such thing. Yes these teacher unions are so strong that they have really stopped the furlough days haven't they. These unions have stopped benefits from being taken away from the teachers haven't they. Give me a break.

#24 JC on 04/07/10 at 01:41 PM

I have to agree that the dirt roads are terrible because I live on one so I know how well the county takes care of them. I also know that you have to use caution while driving on the dirt roads especially after they put that gravel on the roads!! It doesn't matter how slow you go the gravel will still slide your butt off the road. The lady that was driving the bus was once my kids bus driver and I had many complaints about her and how fast she would drive the bus!! I know that my kids are not perfect by no means but I do listen to what they have to say!! When my child thats in elementary school comes home and says that the bus driver was talking on her cell phone and that she was going super fast, then I'm gonna make a complaint!! After my neighbor that lives at the end of our deadend road calls the county to have cul-de-sac fixed after the same bus driver has hit his tractor in his yard and messed up the road because she can't back the bus up correctly then there is cause for concern!! If my kids come home and tell me that she hit a light pole and a mailbox in the same day, that is cause for concern!!! That lady even called my house to tell me that my child was a trouble maker and named about 7 other students (first and last names) that she thought were trouble makers as well! If they were so bad how come she would never turn them in, my child included!! Like I said before I know that my child is not perfect, but the only trouble she was stirring up was telling me what was going on, on that bus, and I called and complained! She took that out on my kids!! She should have been fired long ago, instead they just moved her to a different route to indanger other students!!

#25 TP on 04/08/10 at 07:46 AM

I have called in several times to report speeding buses on my dirt road and nothing has changed!You can blaim it on the road but if you ask me if they where driving the way they were suppost to this wouldnt have happened.

#26 Amazed on 04/08/10 at 09:54 AM

It amazes me how quick Dr. Duncan and staff will fire a school bus driver, but let a sexting assistant principal resign with no further action taken. Also fire a janitor because Mr. Fix-it-all doesn't like him.

#27 Kim on 04/08/10 at 12:31 PM

I've noticed the bus goes a lot slower on my road since this happened.

Again, I will state, the dirt roads don't necessarily need to be paved just maintained the correct way. Crush and run would be a start rather than the larger gravel and it would save the taxpayers money as well. Also, the ditches must be maintained so that the water drains correctly.

Can anyone tell me exactly why the road department prefers the larger gravel rather than the crush and run? They must have some logical reason! hahahaha

#28 wise one on 04/09/10 at 09:52 PM

dont blame it on the dirt road! blame it on the dumb a** bus driver who has become complacent in her job thinking she knows how to drive. we all know women can't drive anyway and yet we let them drive something bigger than a ford focus full of children. Did the driver receive a citation? yes , Was the driver found at fault? yes . no further driver f'd up and should be fired.

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