A bus driver and 5-year-old girl were killed and at least 10 students injured in a school bus accident on Indianapolis’ south side when the bus driver hit a support pillar underneath an overpass. Four children were extricated from the bus; a boy was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
The bus had passed its state inspection in January; no mechanical problems seemed to have been a factor. Although it was raining lightly, investigators are not sure if the wet roadways caused the accident. Was the bus driver distracted, reckless, or careless? Some reports say the 60-year-old bus driver may have suffered from a heart attack.
The parents of the 5-year-old girl have filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that their daughter’s death was a result of negligence by Miller Transportation and the bus driver. The suit also alleges the company failed to “discover, determine, and/or monitor the health conditions” of the bus driver. Their attorney said the child’s death illustrates the need for seat belts on all Indiana school buses. At least three other families have also filed lawsuits alleging that the bus was unsafe because it did not have seat belts.
Although the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says school buses are safe because of their size, and what’s called “compartmentalization,” the American Academy of Pediatrics strongly disagrees. Every other vehicle on the road is equipped with seatbelts. Why do we spend years teaching our children? How effective can we enforce the use of seatbelts in our own vehicles when we send them on the school bus without them? And, why do we have laws requiring us to buckle our seat belts in passenger vehicles, but there are no requirements for seat belts on school buses? Could it be MONEY OVER SAFETY? Absolutely!
Mark Bello has thirty-five years experience as a trial lawyer and thirteen years as an underwriter and situational analyst in the lawsuit funding industry. He is the owner and founder of Lawsuit Financial Corporation which helps provide legal finance cash flow solutions and consulting when necessities of life litigation funding is needed by a plaintiff involved in pending, personal injury, litigation. Bello is a Justice Pac member of the American Association for Justice, Sustaining and Justice Pac member of the Michigan Association for Justice, Business Associate of the Florida, Mississippi, Connecticut, Texas, and Tennessee Associations for Justice, and Consumers Attorneys of California, member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan and the Injury Board.
