A Cause for Concern When it Comes to Our Kids

It is always troubling when something goes so wrong that a school bus has to be evacuated. But if the bus driver, the school, and the school district handle things correctly, parents are left reassured that their children are in safe hands. Unfortunately, it seems the authorities rarely handle things correctly. Sure they do all the evacuation drills they are supposed to, but when things go really wrong, the people in charge tend to be more interested in pointing fingers than in doing what is right.

Parents in Ocean Springs, Washington are outraged after a school bus security video revealed the full extent of what went wrong during one trip home. Parents were originally contacted by the district and the problem, leaking coolant, was downplayed. Parents were assured their children had never been in any danger, and that the bus had been evacuated quickly and properly. The video shows that none of those assurances were true.

In fact, the video revealed:

• Over five minutes elapsed between when children first complained of the leaking coolant until the bus driver actually pulled over and evacuated the vehicle
• Children who were in need of medical care were left waiting while authorities attempted to determine their next move
• Rather than be evacuated through the most convenient doors, the kids were forced to jump from seat to seat to exit through the front
• Parents were not promptly notified of the accident

Parents are right to be outraged. Any parent would be outraged. And the only reason they know they were lied to was the existence of the video tape. In other districts, where video-taping isn’t done or where the tapes are not made public, these types of events could go on for years before parents were able to piece together what was happening.

If your child has been injured in a school bus accident, you would like to believe the school district did everything it could to prevent the injury. The only way to know for sure is to contact an experienced lawyer who will get you the answers you need to make sure your child did not suffer for no reason.