School bus rolls down hill while driver takes break

WoodysGirl

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By M.R. KROPKO
Associated Press

CLEVELAND — Screaming children jumped off a school bus as it rolled downhill today while the driver was in a gas station restroom, the station's manager said. A child took the wheel and steered it into a pillar to keep it from going farther, a fire official said.

After all the chaos, 15 students suffered only minor injuries.

"This kid did some quick thinking," said Larry Gray, a fire department spokesman.

The bus, carrying 27 children in kindergarten through seventh grade, crashed into a bridge support pillar after rolling away from the gas station across the street from Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians.

The children jumped out of the side door and landed in the street, said the gas station manager, Conner Strickland. "I'm surprised none of them got hit. There was a lot of traffic," he said.

Strickland said he saw the bus rolling and banged on the restroom to alert the driver. Then he and another employee chased the bus down the hill.

Fire officials took 15 children to hospitals with mostly minor injuries, said Gray. None of the injuries were life-threatening, he said. The driver the was taken to a hospital with chest pains, Gray said.

The driver and firefighters from a station at the top of the hill helped the children off the bus. Most just had bumps and bruises, Strickland said. "I thought it was going to be worse than that," he said.

The bus was carrying students to Arts Academy, a charter school, Gray said. The bus is operated by Aqua Limousine Ground Transportation, he said. A message seeing comment was left with the company.
 

Mavs Man

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I didn't realize it was common practice for school bus drivers to leave children unattended and unsupervised in order to take a restroom break. Couldn't he have done that BEFORE his route started?

Can you say FIRED...
 

Chief

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Mavs Man;2027662 said:
I didn't realize it was common practice for school bus drivers to leave children unattended and unsupervised in order to take a restroom break. Couldn't he have done that BEFORE his route started?

Can you say FIRED...

I have a feeling he must have been sick. That's the only way I can see him doing that.
 

Rack

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So ummm... why didn't any of the kids just step on the brake pedal?

"Here, let me steer us into a pillar! I'm a hero!"


Could of stepped on the brake, kiddo.
 

the kid 05

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Rack;2027780 said:
So ummm... why didn't any of the kids just step on the brake pedal?

"Here, let me steer us into a pillar! I'm a hero!"


Could of stepped on the brake, kiddo.

would have been a bit funnier if he hit the gas and did a miny burn out then realized he was hitting the wrong one then hit the break :laugh2:
 

Rack

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the kid 05;2027786 said:
would have been a bit funnier if he hit the gas and did a miny burn out then realized he was hitting the wrong one then hit the break :laugh2:

Would have been real funny if he did that, then parallel parked it via the parking brake in a very tight spot. :D
 

Mavs Man

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Chief;2027716 said:
I have a feeling he must have been sick. That's the only way I can see him doing that.

Good point. That's the only logical reason.

Unfortunately, these types of news items rarely cover logical decisionmaking. Usually just the stupid ones.
 

DallasCowpoke

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Rack;2027780 said:
So ummm... why didn't any of the kids just step on the brake pedal?

"Here, let me steer us into a pillar! I'm a hero!"


Could of stepped on the brake, kiddo.

My guess would be he possibly couldn't reach the pedal while sitting in the seat?

That, plus the panic of an unexperienced person, likely never in that position.
 

jackrussell

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Chief;2027716 said:
I have a feeling he must have been sick. That's the only way I can see him doing that.

As a transportation supervisor....it is unlawful in this state to leave students unsupervised.

If he was that sick...the LEAST he could have done was shut off the bus, pump down the air brakes at which point the parking brake engages and locks, remove the key and that bus wasn't going to move, period.

No excuse...you sign on with the understanding student safety is top of the list, and your soiled undies are of no consequence.

Fired...and more than likely facing charges, along with his employer.
 

WoodysGirl

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April 9, 2008, 8:28AM
Boy says he took wheel of runaway bus to avoid semi


By M.R. KROPKO
Associated Press

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A school bus from the Arts Academy charter school crashed into a vertical pillar near the Central Viaduct in Cleveland, Ohio Monday. A fast-acting child was credited as a hero for grabbing the wheel of the runaway school bus and steering it into the pillar after the driver apparently left the bus to fill up with gas and take a bathroom break.
Marvin Fong: AP

CLEVELAND — The 11-year-old Cleveland boy who steered a runaway school bus to safety said today he took the wheel because the bus was rolling toward a semi.

David Murphy told on ABC's "Good Morning America" other children on board during Monday's crash were "freaking out," screaming and hollering, and he decided he had to do something.

"I took the wheel and had to turn the wheel on the sidewalk," he said.

His mother said she was amazed.

"When I saw the precision of the bus, it seemed like it was parked," Patricia Murphy said during the program. "I couldn't believe it and that he had that strength and that direction."

She said she figured out a reason her son was so quiet afterward was that he was terrified he'd get in trouble for taking the wheel.

David was among 27 students headed to a charter school on Monday when the driver stopped at a service station, pumped about $40 of fuel and went into the rest room while the bus was parked and running.

In his absence, the bus began rolling about 300 feet down a side street that swoops through an industrial area and was on a collision course with a semitrailer.

David told police he first tried to pull the emergency brake. When that didn't work, he grabbed the wheel and stopped the bus by guiding it into a bridge's concrete support pillar.

"He veered the bus into the last possible pillar," said Cleveland Fire Department spokesman Larry Gray. "He was a shy kid. I don't think he grasped the magnitude of what he did."

It's not clear why the bus started to roll, police Lt. Thomas Stacho said. Investigators did not find any mechanical problems and a gas station employee watching the bus said none of the children appeared to tamper with anything, he said.

Some students jumped out as the bus rolled. Fifteen were checked later at hospitals, but severe injuries were avoided.

"We are excited that every one of those kids went home, and we spoke with all of their families today," Head of School Alexis Rainbow said Tuesday.

The driver, Michael Weir, 57, will be cited for leaving a vehicle unattended with the keys in the ignition and for registration violations, Cleveland police spokesman Thomas Stacho said Tuesday.

Weir has a valid commercial driver's license but wasn't registered with the state as required, police said. His license was suspended for six months in 2006 and was reissued July 16.

———

Associated Press reporter Thomas J. Sheeran in Cleveland contributed to this story.
 
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