Ocoee Crash Involving School Bus Sends 5 Children to Health Central

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on March 10, 2017

This Friday, as a school bus was traveling through Ocoee, along its usual route towards Thornbrook Elementary School, it was involved in an accident at the intersection of Blackwood Avenue and Old Winter Garden Road. The incident took place at 8:35 in the morning directly in front of the Oaks Apartments.

According to the Orange County Public Schools, at the time of the accident the bus was full of 64 young students who were all on their way to start their day at their elementary school. In the aftermath of the accident, the Orange County Fire Rescue Officials were on hand to personally examine twenty of the young children who were suspected of suffering injuries due to the accident. Five children were ultimately transported to Health Central, although it is not believed that their injuries are life-threatening.

At this moment, there has been no official statement from Florida Highway Patrol officers regarding the accident, what caused it, or the current condition of the five students who were taken to Health Central. Witnesses to the crash suggested that the bus was struck by another car, and that the driver of this second car may have been distracted by their cell phone. This, however, is a report not from the police but from those who saw the crash occur.

As the emergency officials dealt with the accident, of the children’s parents came to the scene themselves to take their kids back home. Many of them expressed concern that over the incident, and their fears were deepened by the notion that this may have been a distracted driver incident. Although there are laws in place to combat distraction due to cell phone use, it is difficult for law enforcement officers to stop each individual who may be using a phone. Because of this, people navigate their vehicles all the time while using their cell phones to call people, text, or even look through their social media pages.

Each time a driver takes their eyes off the road it means that they are not paying attention to where they are. In the seconds that the driver of a vehicle is not looking forward, any number of things may happen that would not be an issue if the driver were watching the road. Circumstances such as the one above, however, show that when drivers drop their attentiveness, even for a moment, the results can be dangerous.

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.