North Carolina school bus crash: 15 kids hurt, none seriously

It is about a three-hour drive east of Charlotte to Benson, North Carolina. Though the town has fewer than 3,500 residents, it boasts two high schools, a pair of middle schools and two elementary schools as well. A school bus on its way to one of the elementary schools was recently in a rear-end collision that resulted in injuries to 15 students.

Seven of the young bus riders were hospitalized, a news report stated. None of the injuries were considered serious, officials said.

Thirty-one students were on the bus when a Ford Mustang slammed into the back of the bus, shattering its rear window.

“I was panicking and everybody was crying,” said a student on the bus.

“It was chaos pretty much,” said a neighbor who heard the crash and rushed to help. He said the bus’s back tire was “ripped out” by the collision.

The 17-year-old driver of the Mustang and a 13-year-old passenger both sustained injuries described as serious. They were hospitalized.

There is no stoplight at the intersection where the crash occurred; the second time in a month that a car has hit a school bus at that spot.

No doubt parents and school administrators are glad that none of the students were badly injured in the crash. Officials are investigating the cause of the wreck.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a motor vehicle accident caused by a distracted, speeding or drunken driver, speak to an attorney experienced in personal injury litigation about your legal options.