Personal Injury Law

Chicago school bus accidents a common danger

By Kris Briggs

An Illinois school bus accident last December occurred after the driver fell out of the moving bus while leaning out the door to vomit, WLS-TV reported.

The allegation is made in a lawsuit filed this week in Cook County Circuit Court against Illinois Central School Bus. The bus continued on without the driver and crashed into a nearby ditch. The crash happened Dec. 18 at the intersection of 15500 E. Road and 4500 S. Road in Kankakee County.

The driver fell onto the road while the bus carrying children continued on without him. The suit does not specify whether the driver or other children were injured in the crash. A spokesperson for Illinois Central School Bus said safety is a "top priority" but declined to comment on the lawsuit. The company, based in suburban Montgomery, is the seventh-largest school bus company in the United States.

The suit seeks damages excess of $50,000.

Illinois school bus accidents occur with alarming regularity. The Illinois Department of Transportation reports more than 2,400 accidents involving school buses occurred in 2008. Six people were killed and 341 were injured. The vast majority of accidents occurred in urban areas, primarily school bus accidents in Chicago.

The U.S. Department of Transportation reports that an average of 19 children die each year in school bus accidents. About two-thirds of those incidents involve pedestrian accidents outside the bus.

Full post as published by Illinois Injury Law Blog on August 06, 2010 (boomark / email).