Bus accident @ Mechanicsville rd & Budds creek/chapitco. Kids on board, St. Marys board of ed enroute. Some injured - 9 ambulances dispatched.
Trooper 7 dispatched for one patient

9 needing transport
2 from a car thats was involved

Oh no

Prayers for all involved...I can hear the sirens. Not a great start to the Thanksgiving vacation :(

That explains the never-ending sirens I keep hearing. I wondered what was going on.

BREAKING NEWS: School Bus in Woods on Rt. 234 - Southern Maryland News, Charles County, Calvert County and St. Mary's County News (http://www.thebaynet.com/news/index.cfm/fa/viewstory/story_ID/25179)

BREAKING NEWS: School Bus in Woods on Rt. 234 - Southern Maryland News, Charles County, Calvert County and St. Mary's County News (http://www.thebaynet.com/news/index.cfm/fa/viewstory/story_ID/25179)
Dayum!

Dayum!

Details are still being added as I'm getting texts. More pics will be up in a few minutes.

Does anyone know why it is legal for school buses not to have seat belts? I have always been curious about this. Maybe it is a stupid question, and if so, I apologize in advance.

Details are still being added as I'm getting texts. More pics will be up in a few minutes.

You beat Southern Maryland News Net! :high5:

Trooper 7 is on its way.

Trooper 7 is on its way.

Now it says the driver of the car was just arrested on DUI...So sad for the kids on the bus and other vehicles involved!

Does anyone know why it is legal for school buses not to have seat belts? I have always been curious about this. Maybe it is a stupid question, and if so, I apologize in advance.

One reason is expense and another reason is that a lot of kids would not wear them.

I can see the logic in both of those reasons. Isn't it the law though? Or are public transportation vehicles exempt? I had to ride a Charles County school bus to DC on a field trip last week. The driver hit the brakes hard about once every 5 minutes, and all I could think about was flying through that huge windshield from my spot in the front seat with no seat belt - followed closely by the 50 children behind me!

You beat Southern Maryland News Net! :high5:

AND has pictures up!

Does anyone know why it is legal for school buses not to have seat belts? I have always been curious about this. Maybe it is a stupid question, and if so, I apologize in advance.

The design of the bus itself makes it one of the safest modes of transportation in the US. Can you imagine if there were seat belts on the bus, and the kids using the buckles to hit other kids, or using the straps to tie kids up. It could end up being chaos aboard. No way would I drive a bus full of middle school kids where seat belts were required....

The design of the bus itself makes it one of the safest modes of transportation in the US. Can you imagine if there were seat belts on the bus, and the kids using the buckles to hit other kids, or using the straps to tie kids up. It could end up being chaos aboard. No way would I drive a bus full of middle school kids where seat belts were required....

Looks like cost to me:

School Bus Seat Belt Background (http://www.ncsbs.org/testimonies/seat_belt_background.htm)

Cost: On the very first page of the NHTSA Report, the Agency is careful to quote from a June 25, 1998 letter from Congressman James A. Traficant, Jr. admonishing NHTSA to consider the impact on school districts of requiring occupant restraint systems and design and seating capacity changes. While based on recent events the credibility of Mr. Traficant is questionable (at best), NHTSA’s first responsibility is to establish considerations of safety paramount to and above all concerns for the supposed inconvenience of the districts.




NHTSA also argues that the installation of seat belts would cause a 17% loss of seating capacity resulting in substantial additional expenses to school districts. They allege that this is because three restraints cannot be fitted to a 39” seat. As those familiar with school transportation are fully aware, except for children in the earliest grades, no 39” seat can accommodate three students. For NHTSA to assume that all school buses are operating at full capacity with 3 to a seat does not represent reality in school transportation.

Conclusion: Once again NHTSA has failed miserably in addressing the problem of “compromised compartmentalization” in school bus side impact and rollover accidents. As a direct result, children will continue to be killed and injured in school bus accidents. Since NHTSA will not act, the responsibility to correct this well documented inadequacy now resides with the Congress.

This in interesting:

Then we get into the cost-benefit analysis. At $1,800 a bus, outfitting the 440,000 school buses in the U.S. would cost nearly $800 million--and when the annual death toll is only 11, how much lower can you go, realistically? Given that three times as many fatalities occur when students exit or enter buses, some think the money might be better spent educating the all-too-oblivious public that when the school bus's stop sign swings out, it means you.

The Straight Dope: Why are there no seatbelts on school buses? (http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1289/why-are-there-no-seatbelts-on-school-buses)

School Bus Accident with Multiple Injuries (http://smnewsnet.com/archives/4995)

Photos of DUI driver that caused the accident are up

Back to the issue at hand - the crash. does anyone know what kids were on the bus? Not names of course, but was this football / basketball / band / etc?

Back to the issue at hand - the crash. does anyone know what kids were on the bus? Not names of course, but was this football / basketball / band / etc?

Great Mills Girls Basketball

Thanks!

School Bus Accident with Multiple Injuries (http://smnewsnet.com/archives/4995)

Photos of DUI driver that caused the accident are up

He's quite the upstanding citizen. Arrested in the past for cocaine possession and he's a pedophile. Now driving drunk and causing a 3 vehicle accident, including injuring multiple kids? What a complete loser, glad it seems that all involved will be ok.

Heard this on FOX news on the way in this AM. I guess there were no serious injuries.

On Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011 at 9:24 p.m,. police, fire and rescue personnel responded to a three vehicle motor vehicle collision involving a school bus transporting the girls’ basketball team from Great Mills High School. The school bus was returning students to St. Mary’s County after they played a basketball game in Colonial Beach, Va.

The collision occurred in the intersection of Budds Creek Road and Mechanicsville Road, Mechanicsville, St. Mary’s County, Maryland. Trooper First Class G. Thompson of the Maryland State Police, Leonardtown Barrack is conducting the investigation. The incident is also being investigated in conjunction with the St. Mary’s County School Board.

It was determined that a black 1999 Dodge truck, was stopped at a stop sign on Mechanicsville Road at Budds Creek Road. The truck was waiting to make a left turn, to travel east, onto Budds Creek Road. A silver 2010 Ford Fusion, was traveling eastbound Budds Creek Road making a left turn, to travel northbound on Mechanicsville Road. The Dodge truck failed to wait for the Fusion to clear the intersection. The Dodge truck proceeded into the intersection and struck the Fusion. The Dodge truck traveled into the intersection on Budds Creek Road. A 2007 Thompson school bus, was traveling eastbound on Budds Creek Road approaching the intersection. As the bus approached the intersection, the bus struck the Dodge truck. The bus traveled off of the roadway on the westbound side of the roadway and entered a heavily wooded area.

The operator of the Fusion and a 13 year old passenger were transported to St. Mary’s Hospital in Leonardtown, St. Mary’s County, MD via ambulance.

A total of 28 students, four adults and the bus driver all occupied the bus. Fifteen (15) students, one adult and the bus driver were transported to St. Mary’s Hospital via ambulance. No one suffered serious injuries. At the time of this report (11/23/2011 at 1:30a.m.), all students had been discharged from the hospital. The remaining 13 students were released into the custody of their parents at the scene of the collision.

The driver of the Dodge truck, was identified as John Patrick Kravats, 45 of Mechanicsville, Maryland. Mr. Kravats was subsequently arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. Mr. Kravats suffered minor injuries as a result of the collision. He is currently receiving medical attention for his injuries. The passenger in Dodge truck also suffered minor injuries. The passenger was not transported.

The collision remains under investigation

Mr. Kravats may never have two dimes to rub together again, after the lawyers get involved. So how much DID those drinks cost him? :loser: