Bus Wreck on Cedar Mountain, North Carolina Hospitalizes Fourteen People

A three-bus wreck took place in the mountains of western North Carolina near Greenville, SC, which sent fourteen people to four area hospitals last Friday afternoon.  The three buses were carrying students of Blythewood Middle School who were coming from the YMCA Camp Cedar Creek, NC.    According to the police, the three buses were heading along US 276 when the second bus hit the first, causing it to go off the right side of the road and hit a tree near Persimmon Ridge.

Apparently, the second bus had brake problems possibly due to overheating.  Deborah Kiser, one of the bus drivers was among those taken for treatment, but the extent of her injuries was still unknown.    Three children and four adults were taken to Greenville Memorial Hospital for possible minor injuries. Three of the bus accident victims were much younger and were taken to St. Francis Pediactric Hospital but information on their condition was not released by the hospital spokesperson. 

As a legal matter, a bus accident occurs when a bus is involved in an event or combination of events that causes harm such as property damage, personal injury and/or death. According to recent data published by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 22.4 percent of bus crashes involved a collision with another motor vehicle. Another 25.8 percent involved collisions with stationary objects and other non-motorized objects; a whopping 51.7 percent involved incidents where no collision occurred, such as rollovers. Most of these accidents involved an element of negligence, frequently corresponding to a traffic law violation.

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