Parents in North Carolina and elsewhere worry about the safety of their children; it’s what they do. And parents worry when they send their children away to college, because they are out of their sight. And while many college students make foolish mistakes, parents shouldn’t have to worry that the school the students are enrolled at will put their safety at risk.
This appears to be the case at a North Carolina university a few hours north of Wilmington, when a bus for the college caused a chain-reaction accident that sent several people to the hospital.
According to police, the bus, which transports students around campus, rear-ended a car, which then hit the back of a truck. The vehicles were stopped at the time when the bus ran into them.
According to police, five people who were riding in the car were taken to the hospital. Their conditions are unknown, but police said the car was hit extremely hard. Fortunately no other injuries were reported, but if the bus was full of students there could have been many more people hurt.
Police charged the driver of the bus with failure to reduce speed, and it is unknown if any more charges will be filed. The interesting fact about this college is that it employs enrolled students to drive the buses. The director of the bus program said the student will not be driving buses while the investigation is ongoing.
But this is probably cold comfort to parents, who are likely wondering if the bus drivers are given the proper training before being sent out on the road. And to the people who were injured in the car, they likely don’t care about the college giving students work, but are instead wondering what happened to cause the accident and if anyone can be held liable for their injuries.
Source: WNCT, “Update: ECU Transit Bus Involved in Accident,” Feb. 10, 2012