NATIONAL COALITION OF SCHOOL BUS SAFETY NEWS UP TO DEC. 2003

Siloam Springs : School bus driver avoids charges in fatal accident
Saturday, August 2, 2003

5Benton County prosecutors won’t bring criminal charges against the driver of a Siloam Springs school bus that crashed May 19, killing a 14-year-old girl and injuring dozens more pupils.

Prosecuting Attorney Bob Balfe said in a Friday news statement that the actions of bus driver George D. Van-Vliet didn’t rise to the level of criminal conduct.

Van-Vliet, 73, was distracted by a pupil who was taunting another pupil, and Van-Vliet took his eyes off the road and missed a curve, Arkansas State Police concluded.

Paul Bridges, deputy prosecuting attorney, wrote in a case summary that Van-Vliet’s inattention didn’t rise to the level of gross negligence needed to pursue a charge of negligent homicide.

The bus carrying 44 pupils ran off Arkansas 16 near the Illinois River, barreled down a steep embankment, turned on its side and crashed into a tree.

Jessicca Price of Siloam Springs died of massive head trauma. Seven pupils were hospitalized and dozens more received medical treatment.

Jessicca, who was in foster care, was sitting in the middle of the bus, which state police said was the most heavily damaged.

Jessicca’s mother is incensed that Van-Vliet won’t be charged with a crime or issued a traffic ticket. "He shouldn’t be able to drive another vehicle again," said Beckie Price of Rogers. "He killed my baby. He knew that road. He knew that route. He should have pulled over and dealt with the disturbance after he stopped the bus. Any parent would have done the same."

Arkansas State Police shared prosecutors’ rationale in declining to issue Van-Vliet a traffic ticket, said Capt. Les Braunns.

Braunns said the state police took into account the blame that Van-Vliet has taken over the deadly wreck. "It was an unfortunate accident, but a ticket isn’t going to bring the child back," Braunns said.

Van-Vliet said the prosecutors’ decision not to charge him is fair. "If you’ve never driven a school bus, you might not understand what it’s like to be distracted when you’re driving," Van-Vliet said Friday. "When you have to take care of discipline problems and drive the bus at the same time, it gets hectic."

Price said she wishes Van-Vliet would apologize to her family. "He could pick up the phone and say, ‘I’m sorry, ’" she said.

Van-Vliet, a substitute bus driver for Siloam Springs since November, told state police he was distracted by a 7-year-old boy in the first row who was teasing a 9-year-old girl with a rolled-up piece of paper. But nine pupils told police that Van-Vliet swerved when he reached for a lollipop the 9-year-old had, according to a police report.

According to Van-Vliet’s statement to police, he held out his hand for the boy’s paper roll. When the boy didn’t give it to him, Van-Vliet said he turned his head and may have moved out of his seat a little bit. A 12-yearold told police that Van-Vliet got up, while another said he stayed in the driver’s seat the entire time.

Van-Vliet said Friday that he’s still bothered by the accident. "I have my moments," he said. "You think back and wonder, ‘ What if this, what if that.’ Still, it happened and you have to go on with life."

The Siloam Springs School District’s policy says bus drivers dealing with a disturbance on the bus should glance in the rearview mirror and give verbal commands.

Kent Raymick, school district assistant superintendent, said Van-Vliet hasn’t driven a bus since the accident, and the district won’t ask him to again.

Meng Vang, 10, is the only injured pupil still hospitalized, The Benton County Daily Recordreported in an article Friday. Meng’s condition was recently upgraded from serious to fair.

Meng has remained at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock and is slowly regaining movement in his arm and leg, said the Vang family’s attorney, Mark Martin, according to the Daily Record.

Meng’s brother, Keng Vang, 13, also was hurt in the accident.

Martin told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Wednesday that his Fayetteville law firm is preparing to sue the school bus manufacturer for failing to equip their vehicles with passenger seat belts. "We feel like the manufacturer was in the best position to avoid this catastrophe," Martin said. "It’s baffling to us that it’s illegal for a child to ride in a car without a seat belt, but school buses aren’t equipped with them."

Martin said his firm will sue Thomas Built Buses Inc. of High Point, N. C.

His firm represents the Vang family and the family of Eric England, 8, who also was injured in the accident.

BY MICHELLE BRADFORD

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