On Thursday, a breaking news article grabbed my attention: “Fatal Crash Involves Gas Tanker and School Bus.” My heart leaped into my throat.
The initial reports were sketchy and contradictory. Five people dead, 7 injured. No, four fatalities. Then, more news reports started coming in, and with the ensuing photos of the crash scene it became apparent the “school bus” was in fact a paratransit shuttle bus.
Indeed, later articles described the bus more accurately as on its way to take disabled and special needs adults to a vocational school. One injured male passenger didn’t appear to be any older than 20 years of age.
The crash occurred along Interstate 70 near Springfield, Ohio, in the midst of snow storm that dumped five inches. A tractor trailer jack-knifed on the slick highway, crossed the median and swerved into oncoming traffic.
STN contributing writer Lisa Hudson was traveling with her family along I-70 on Dec. 27 from Effingham, Ill., to Mason, Ohio, during a similar storm. She said the whiteout conditions seen in the picture to the left were representative of most of their trip. If you look closely to the middle of the photo, you can barely see the headlights from oncoming traffic. But as Lisa told us, those cars are definitely there.
In the end, three students in the 17-passenger Chevy bus were killed along with their driver, and another six were injured. And the ages of those involved were all over the map, as the three students who died were 28, 37 and 61 years old.
Yes, technically, this was not a school-related crash, at least how this industry tends to view it. But lest we forget, most elementary and secondary students with disabilities rely heavily on transit and paratransit training later in life. And I’d venture a guess that at least some of these passengers at one time rode the school bus.
One could argue that continued education never truly ends for any of us, especially as we try to climb the ranks in our given professions. Some just have more special needs than others.