The charter bus for the baseball team at Hiram College was involved in a deadly accident in Pasco County, Florida. The bus was headed south on I-75 from Ohio.
According to Sergeant Steve Gaskins of Florida Highway Patrol, among the 38 passengers on the Hiram bus, no one suffered any injuries. However, an 81-year-old woman from Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina died at the scene.
As revealed in the Orlando Sentinel, the police report indicates that the bus was driven by a woman named Shirley Jackson, age 69, from West Salem, Ohio, who failed to reduce her speed when two highway lanes merged into one near mile marker 287. As a result, the bus struck the rear of the 81-year-old woman’s SUV.
The report also says that the SUV then crashed into another vehicle, a Hyundai. The passenger in the SUV suffered injuries, and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. The driver of the Hyundai, Amy Chadek, age 45, was severely injured, and was taken to the hospital. The bus driver, Jackson, also sustained minor injuries. The crash caused all four lanes on Interstate 75 to be closed for four hours.
Although bus accidents are not a common occurrence in Florida, when they take place, the results can be disastrous. If you are injured in a bus accident, you may have a right to receive a considerable amount of compensation.
The family members of someone who dies in a bus accident may be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit. A bus accident can cause life-changing injuries, including traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, burn injury or orthopedic injury. If you were injured in a bus accident, or lost a loved one in such an accident, call Chalik & Chalik Injury Lawyers.