28 Students and 1 Bus Driver Injured in Collision with Delivery Truck in Temple, Texas
According to KXXV, 28 students and their bus driver were injured following an accident with a delivery truck in Temple, Texas. The incident occurred around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, January 17 when police believe the Lowe's delivery truck failed to yield right of way on Old 95, ran a stop sign and clipped the Academy ISD school bus, causing it to roll on its side. None of the children's injuries are thought to be life-threatening, but the bus driver is said to be undergoing surgery as a result of injuries sustained. The driver of the delivery truck, who only sustained minor injuries, was issued a traffic citation.
Update: Reports confirm 29 children were injured, including one listed in critical condition.
Update: One child and an adult remain hospitalized in critical condition, due to the accident.
Commentary If the reports are accurate and the children all suffered only minor injuries, we should all be thankful. Let's hope the bus driver fully recovers from the accident. I take issue with one report's claim that heavy fog is what caused the accident. When you drive for a living, certain training and guidelines prepare you for operation in all conditions, including fog. Furthermore, an intersection, no matter where, is an area where extra caution should be used, including using slower rate of speed. It would appear that did not occur here. Regarding potential remedies from the accident, first an independent investigation should be used for scene recreation and defining liability. Many may read the news story and feel like liability or fault from the accident is a squared away determination. However, when vehicles are owned and backed by large corporations, you can count on two things. First, relatively large insurance policies will be in place, and secondly, these policies will be staunchly defended by in-house counsel. This is a business decision, rather than a personal decision. When the limits of insurance policies reach the 7-figure mark, manipulating a company's bottom line is strongly encouraged. There are a number of ways this is accomplished, most commonly being the commercial vehicle's company conducting their own investigation into the scene, with an eye towards mitigating liability and subsequently a payout. Therein lies a problem, because thankfully for many of us, we will never experience a commercial vehicle wreck, yet these large companies investigate these events all the time.
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