School Buses in Accidents in Chesapeake and Hampton, VA

By John Cooper, Norfolk, VA Accident Injury Attorney

The standard of school bus driving in Hampton Roads, VA has come under scrutiny after two crashes in one day.

In the most serious incident in Chesapeake, VA nine students were taken to a local hospital after a school bus crashed into a ditch near Hickory High School.

The bus was taking 45 students to Hickory Middle School, when it went into a ditch at about 8:15 a.m. on Dec. 12, 2011, the Virginian-Pilot reported.

It’s unclear if there were any injuries. The school division said the students were “shaken up a little bit.”

Police are still looking into the cause of this accident but a bus driver appears to have been at fault in Hampton, VA on the same day when a school bus hit six parked cars in the parking lot of Bethel High School on the morning of Dec. 12. A 33-year-old bus driver  faces one count of reckless driving and a count of no operator’s license in possession, the Daily Press reported. Police said she has a license but didn’t have it with her at the time of the incident. 

Two students were transported to a local hospital complaining of suffering pain, according to the Daily Press.

As experienced Norfolk-based, VA accident injury attorneys we are concerned at any reports of accidents caused by school bus drivers, although we are relived no students appear to have suffered serious injuries in these two accidents.

Sadly, this has not always been the case. In  2009 a prekindergarten student died after being struck by a bus at Riverdale Elementary School in Southampton County, VA.

See this video about a fatal school bus crash.

In some cases students who have been hurt in school bus crashes have successfully sued local school boards. In March, 2011, Chesapeake school board agreed to pay $16,000 to a student who suffered neck and back injuries in a school bus accident, the Virginian-Pilot reported.

Our law firm specializes in back and spine injuries. The spine is the central part of your entire nervous system, so when you sustain an injury to your back or spine, your entire body is affected. Injuries can change your life.

See this article about protecting your children in an auto accident.

The Norfolk based personal injury law firm, Cooper Hurley, handles automobile, truck, and motorcycle injuries. John Cooper and Jim Hurley have over 40 years of combined experience in handling auto injury accident claims. Attorney John Cooper has been named to Virginia “Super Lawyers” since 2010. Cooper Hurley represents people hurt in accidents in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and throughout VA, and always put the best interests of the our clients first.. The firm is recognized by other lawyers as “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell, a national attorney rating service, for our top level of legal skill and highest ethical standards. If you need help or advice about a serious injury, please call us ( 757) 455 -0077 or contact through this website.