SCHOOL BUS CRASH REPORTS 2007

16 Kids Hurt as Panhandle Bus Flips
April 24, 2007

Several students from a Panhandle middle school were injured this morning when a Santa Rosa County school bus tipped over in Navarre, according to a report from FLORIDA TODAY news partner the Pensacola News Journal.

There were 37 children on the school bus.

The bus driver, Jerome Keith Bevins, refused treatment at the scene. He has been suspended pending an investigation, said Stephanie Slayton, driver development/safety supervisor for Laidlaw, the company that handles transportation for Santa Rosa County.

"It does appear speed was a factor," she said.

Slayton said Laidlaw will do an investigation independent of the one being conducted by the Florida Highway Patrol.

School officials also confirm what many witnesses said: The bus was speeding at the time of the accident.

Sixteen students were taken to a local hospitals.

Mike Burke, spokesman for Sacred Heart Hospital, said seven of the eight they received had minor injuries and are doing well.

“It’s very likely they will be treated and released today,” Burke said. “However, one child will likely be admitted to the hospital and is in fair condition.”

He would not elaborate on the extent of the children’s injuries.

Eight of the children, ages 11 to 14 years old, were taken to Gulf Breeze Hospital.

"There nature of their injuries appear to be minor," said hospital spokeswoman Lisa Chamberlin. "We are doing some diagnostic testing, like X-rays, to make sure there is nothing we don’t see."

Chamberlin said most students suffered only minor scrapes and bruises.

"It a much better picture than it could have been," Chamberlin said.

E’mante Jones, a seventh-grader, 13, has been treated and released from Sacred Heart. She suffered a small cut on her head and facial bruises.

“The bus driver said he was running late, and (began) taking sharp turns,” she said outside the hospital today. “We were having fun. It was kind of like a roller coaster.”

I didn’t know what was going to happen,” she recalled. “The first thing I thought was, if the bus tips over, we have to get out.”

When the bus tipped, she was thrown from her seat. She opened the emergency hatch at the top of the bus and climbed out with several other students.

“It does appear speed was a factor,” Joey Harrell, director of administrative services for Santa Rosa schools, said today.

Passengers Preston Anderson, 13, and Tyler Mertz, 12, said the driver was speeding through the neighborhood and took the corner too quickly.

Both also said speeding through the neighborhood is normal for buses.

Preston said this was the second accident the bus driver has had. He was in both.

"He was coming fast around the corner like he always does," Preston said. "I was looking out the window then all of a sudden there was the road and it's like 'Bam!' People were screaming and falling all over you.

"I thought I was going to die."

"It was very scary. When we got out everyone was shaking," Tyler said. He was one of the first out of the bus and flagged a car down to call 911.

Harrell said today’s accident was the first one of this magnitude this year.

Stephanie Gayewski’s son, Stephen, was on the bus. He is a 14-year-old eighth-grader.

“Stephen seems to be OK,” Gayewski said. “He has some bumps and bruises on his back.”

Gayewski met with her son in Sacred Heart's emergency room. He told her the bus driver was speeding.

“He said they were going around the corner fast when the bus started tipping,” she said.

Debbie Wilson is the mother of sixth-grader Samantha Jo Wilson, who was injured.

"I think she is going to be fine," she said.

A tow truck has righted the overturned bus.

Conni Carnley, principal at Woodlawn, was at the scene of the accident and has just arrived at the school.

She was preparing to inform the students and staff of the accident.

“Students are already beginning to talk and teachers are concerned with their students,” she said.

Vic Bennett, dean of students, said counselors are available at the school and students are meeting with the school clinician to make sure there are no injuries.

Bennett said most of the concerns expressed by students were for their personal items left on the bus.

Woodlawn is the largest middle school in Santa Rosa County with more than 900 students.

PENSACOLA NEWS JOURNAL

back to Crash Reports 2007

top