At least 22 people were hurt after a tractor-trailer rear ended a school bus in Highlands County, Florida. The school bus had 39 students on board as it was going north on US 27 in Highlands County. At the same time, a big rig was going north on US 27 in the right lane behind the bus. 

The bus stopped at Lake Ridge Drive to let students get on the bus. The school bus had its flashing lights on to warn other drivers that the bus was stopped and loading passengers. But the driver of the tractor trailer did not stop in time and slammed into the rear of the bus. The bus was pushed onto the shoulder of US 27 and turned on its side.

The Florida Highway Patrol stated that 22 people went to the hospital, and two had serious injuries. The truck driver has been charged with careless driving.

Our View

The NHTSA reports that about 134 people are killed in school bus crashes every year. Of those, approximately 8% are in the buses; pedestrians, bikers and others outside the bus account for 21% of the deaths. But almost 75% of the deaths are because of the actions of other drivers.

All drivers with a driver’s license in the United States are required to stop when a school bus in front of them has stopped and has its red flashers blinking. The only way one could miss such an obvious reason to need to stop is not paying attention, or simply driving too close to the school bus to start with.

All of our personal injury and truck crash attorneys in Virginia want to remind drivers that they are required to stop when they see a school bus stopped with its red flashers illuminated.

Our personal injury lawyers have represented clients before who were rear ended. Rear end accidents can cause very serious injuries, including head injuries, neck injuries, and broken bones. Our client in Virginia Beach was rear ended at high speed on I-264. Our client had slowed down properly for traffic ahead, but the driver behind her apparently was not paying attention to the road.

She suffered a herniated disc in her spine, and she had tingling in her hands and numbness. She opted to wait to have surgery, but our attorneys were still able to obtain a $130,000 personal injury settlement to pay for her future surgery.