A
Colorado school bus
accident resulted in the death of the bus driver and serious injuries to
some passengers. The school bus was carrying members of the Legacy High School
football team, according to reports, when it crashed into a concrete pillar at
Denver International Airport shortly after picking up team members.
Victims of the Colorado School Bus Accident Identified
At
the time of the Colorado school bus accident, the bus was carrying 28 students
and three coaches who had arrived in Denver following a game in California. The
four adults on the bus were all at the front of the vehicle, which is where the
impact of the bus crash was felt most.
- According
to School Transportation News, the driver of
the bus was Kari Chopper, who had been a school bus driver for Adams 12 Five
Star Schools for four years. Although the airbags deployed, Chopper died of
blunt force injuries. A GoFundMe page
has been started to help Chopper's family. Chopper is survived by a husband,
four children and one grandchild.
- Wayne
Voorhees, Matt Kroupa and Kyle Rider—all coaches with the football
team—suffered significant injuries and were treated in local hospital, according
to the school district.
- All 15 football players who were injured in the accident were released from local hospitals shortly after the bus crash.
The
Denver Police Department is investigating the Colorado school bus accident,
which reportedly occurred after the bus driver circled the bus around to return
to the airport for reasons that are not yet clear. After circling back to the
airport, the
bus moved off the road and crashed into a concrete pillar. Two other buses
from the school district were also at the airport to pick up students, but were
not involved in the crash.
Investigators
are looking into the possibility of mechanical issues with the bus and are
considering other possible causes for the crash, including whether the bus
driver suffered from health problems. Reports indicate Chopper had passed her
routine physical on May 10, 2016.
School District Offers Support to Students Affected by Colorado School Bus Accident
Following
news of the Colorado school bus accident, the school district noted that crisis
response teams would be available to support staff and students at both Legacy
High School and the district transportation center. Athletes involved in the
accident were being monitored and had to be cleared before allowed to play in
an upcoming game.
A
letter from Superintendent Chris Gdowski thanked the community for its support
of the district, staff and students.
"While
we have 50-plus schools in our district, the relationships between staff,
students and parents extend beyond school walls," Gdowski wrote. "We
collectively offer our condolences to the family of Kari Chopper, the bus
driver who died in yesterday's accident. The family and our transportation
staff need your continued thoughts and prayers during this difficult
time."
NHTSA Tracks School Bus Crashes
The
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) records
school bus accidents. Of all fatal motor vehicle crashes from 2003 to 2012,
0.35% were considered by the NHTSA to be school-transportation-related. During
that same time, 174 school-age children died in school-transportation-related
crashes. Of those, 55 children were in the vehicle involved in the crash while
119 were outside the vehicle.
In
2015, Mark Rosekind, NHTSA administrator, noted in remarks to the National
Association for Pupil Transportation that the NHTSA was changing its position
and recommending that every child on a school bus have a three-point seat belt.
"The
position of the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration is that seat belts save lives,"
Rosekind said. "That is true whether in a passenger car or in a big yellow
bus. And saving lives is what we are about."
It
is not clear whether the vehicle involved in the Colorado school bus accident
had seat belts, but Colorado is not one of the five states that currently
require seat belts on newer school buses. Those states—California, New
York, Texas, Florida, and New Jersey—require all new school buses to have some
form of seat belt, though not necessarily a three-point seat belt. Some
districts in Colorado say they are looking into seat belts on school buses to
protect students, even without the state making it a requirement.
In
the same address, Rosekind noted the NHTSA would launch research projects to
improve data regarding school bus safety, examine ways to make seat belts
available to all students and reach out to the six states that already have
laws requiring seat belts on buses to find out how they have overcome financial
obstacles to installing seat belts on all buses.
Contact a School Bus Accident Attorney
The law firm of Baum,
Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman has represented children injured in school
bus accidents. If you or a loved one has been harmed in a school bus accident,
contact one of our attorneys at 800-827-0087 for a no-obligation consultation
to discuss your options.
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