Thursday afternoon on August 27, 2015 a school bus filled with students from Pensacola High School was struck by a dump truck in Pensacola, Florida. The bus contained 22 students, bus driver Harriet Collins and a driver’s assistant. Around 3:30pm, a dump truck driven by a thirty-three year old man named Abraham Larry Jr. missed a red light and crashed into the school bus. The school was struck from behind, and then hit a utility pole before flipping on its side at the edge of the road.
Inside of the bus, several severely injured students were trapped inside.
Reports indicated that students were frightened by the bus accident, and many were bleeding. Students were leaping out of the bus in order to escape. Those who were trapped inside had to wait until the ambulance and other first responders arrived to cut them out of the bus.
Parents and guardians were quickly notified, and many travelled with their children to a local hospital.
Little more is known about the status of the students who were injured in the bus and truck accident.
Elsewhere in Florida, another school bus was involved in a fatal accident with a speeding motorcyclist on the same day. Twenty-eight year old Niriel Cordero was riding a green Kawasaki motorcycle when he struck the middle of an empty school bus occupied by only the driver, Regina Elliott.
Early that morning, a Lakeland police officer watched as Cordero attempted to make an illegal pass around another vehicle on a double yellow line. The officer turned on his emergency lights and attempted to pull Cordero over at a stop light. When the motorcycle sped away, the officer did not pursue it. He did, however, note the event on the police radio.
Only minutes later, the local police department received news of an accident involving the same green motorcycle. It struck an empty school bus at an intersection, and resulted in a fatal accident that took Cordero’s life.
Authorities state that Cordero’s driver’s license was suspended at the time, and that speeding contributed to the accident. They continue to investigate the accident.
Attorneys do not always rely on police reports to obtain information. Personal injury lawyers often hire private investigators to gather more facts about each case and the true cause of an accident. Are you looking for answers to your questions?
— Article by Richard D. Weaver, a Texas personal injury attorney.
