Children jump out of runaway school bus

[WakeHead]

I have visions of the driver running out of the bathroom with a trail of toilet paper.

Quote »

CLEVELAND - Rolling downhill in a bus with his screaming classmates and no driver, a fast-acting 11-year-old jumped behind the wheel Monday and steered the bus into a pillar, stopping it from careening out of control. Some children jumped out the side door and rolled into the street. The driver, Michael Weir, had stopped for fuel and was in the station's restroom when the bus started to roll with 27 children aboard. Fifteen children suffered minor injuries and were treated at hospitals and released. The boy who stopped the bus likely saved the children from worse injuries, authorities said. "This kid did some quick thinking," said Larry Gray, a fire department spokesman. Weir, whose bus was carrying kindergartners through seventh-graders, bought $40 of diesel at a station across the street from Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians. State law prohibits bus drivers from leaving their vehicles at any time when students are on board and drivers are not allowed to stop for gas during their route, said Scott Blake, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Education. Authorities were trying to find out more about why Weir left the bus, which was carrying students to Arts Academy Community School West, a charter school that opened this year. Conner Strickland, the station's manager, said he banged on the restroom door to alert the driver and then chased the bus, which was picking up speed. He heard screams and watched in horror as some children leaped from the bus. ‘My heart dropped’ "My heart dropped," Strickland said. "I'm surprised none of them got hit. There was a lot of traffic." The boy who stopped the bus told police he first tried to pull the emergency brake. When that didn't work, he grabbed the wheel. Barreling down a side street that swoops through an industrial area, the bus rolled about 300 feet, hopped over a curb and onto a sidewalk before it struck the pillar of a bridge that carries Interstate 90 into downtown. If it had kept going, the bus would have picked up speed and could have flipped where the street makes a sharp turn, said police Lt. Thomas Stacho. It's not clear why the bus started to roll, Stacho said. Investigators did not find any mechanical problems and a gas station employee watching the bus said none of the children appeared to tamper with anything, he said. Driver not registered Weir, 57, has a valid commercial driver's license but wasn't registered with the state as required, police said. Ohio bus drivers must obtain a state license certification every six years that includes a criminal background check and a review of their driving record, education department spokeswoman Karla Carruthers said. Weir, who ran down the hill after the bus, was taken to a hospital with chest pains, authorities said. Officials at the school declined to comment. The bus is operated by Aqua Limousine Ground Transportation, he said. A message seeing comment was left with the company.

Modified by WakeHead at 9:46 AM 4-8-2008

[Lawl Master]

Good on the kid for savin the day.

[SSLByron]

Quote, originally posted by Lawl Master »

Good on the kid for savin the day.

[Big M]

ok heres da ting I was in a skool bus that was rolling and the ebrake dint work so i hopped a crub went on the sidewalk and hit a pillor. No fents, burshes or bricks this time lol omg!!1!

[duke of chucchinchilla]

Looks like the man responsible should have been driving the short bus instead.

[spockcat]

Sometimes you just gotta go!

[skateboarder_ant]

So true!

Maybe he was on the brink of crapping his pants and just had to go. Forgot to put it in park. Or was it a standard and forgot the handbrake? The kid pulled the e-brake and nothing happened. Maybe it didn't hold or something. If the handbrake and e-brake are the same Haven't been in a bus in years...

Since the investigation didn't find anything mechanically wrong with the bus...


Modified by skateboarder_ant at 10:53 AM 4-8-2008

[BillLeBob]

$40 worth of diesel? Must be a low budget operation.

[ATL_Av8r]

poor guy probably had to **** his brains out.

poor guy now has to clean 40 seats that are full of ****, to boot.

[WhiteRat]

Quote, originally posted by skateboarder_ant »

So true! Maybe he was on the brink of crapping his pants and just had to go. Forgot to put it in park. Or was it a standard and forgot the handbrake? The kid pulled the e-brake and nothing happened. Maybe it didn't hold or something. If the handbrake and e-brake are the same Haven't been in a bus in years... Since the investigation didn't find anything mechanically wrong with the bus... Modified by skateboarder_ant at 10:40 AM 4-8-2008

If it's a typical Allison automatic, it's got no parking prawl, only "Neutral".

Also, assuming it's an air brake system, if the brake was properly set by the driver, that bus wasn't going anywhere, a single axle set of spring brakes, properly adjusted, will keep a fully loaded semi truck from rolling away. The only way that bus will roll is if:

A. Somebody releases the brakes, either by pushing in the valve or manually supplying air to the spring brake chambers via an emergency supply connection.

B. The brakes were waaaaaay out of adjustment. Most modern air brake systems have automatic slack adjusters to keep the brakes in check to compensate for wear.

Something smells fishy. Perhaps the entire fleet needs to be DOT'ed.



Modified by WhiteRat at 8:57 AM 4-8-2008

[jayseal22]

soon as i read it I thought "WHOA DUDE!"

[anarchyx34]

Quote, originally posted by Big M »

ok heres da ting I was in a skool bus that was rolling and the ebrake dint work so i hopped a crub went on the sidewalk and hit a pillor. No fents, burshes or bricks this time lol omg!!1!

[brickfrenzy]

Quote, originally posted by chucchinchilla »

Looks like the man responsible should have been driving the short bus instead.

Or riding in it.

[turbo_nine]

Quote, originally posted by Lawl Master »

Good on the kid for savin the day.

Maybe next we'll hear the kid got detention for getting out of his seat like in the last time this kind of story came up in the CL.