Dramatic video has been released by a South Carolina school board showing the moment a school bus carrying special needs students collided with a tractor-trailer as it skidded across the road.
The collision occurred just after 3 p.m. in Simpsonville, S.C., according to Greenville News.
In the video, camera from inside the bus shows it travelling down a road when a tractor-trailer in the distance can be seen sliding horizontally towards the vehicle. An inside camera also shows the bus driver and at least one student on screen as the bus hits, with the driver covering her head on impact.
Adam James, director of transportation for Greenville County Schools, told Global News that the bus had special needs students on-board at the time of the incident, as well as a bus aide.
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James said no one was seriously injured, though one student was sent to see a doctor.
After the impact, driver Tanya Cummings called Greenville dispatch who then contacted authorities and EMS. She then began to help the children and kept them inside the bus as she “wasn’t sure” if a power line that had fallen was touching the bus.
The video then cuts to Cummings walking back to the bus, speaking with a student who is audibly upset and tells the child, “Let’s play a game.”
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James said he was proud with how she responded to the incident.
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“The training was validated. This is why we do training.”
Drivers on Greenville buses are given training on how to drive both special needs and standard buses, and added that Cummings is a safety trainer who helps teach other new drivers.
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According to James, Cummings wasn’t the only adult on the bus and said though he is proud of her work, bus aide Carletta Cyrus also deserves praise.
He said while Cummings was helping the students, Cyrus communicated with first responders.
South Carolina Highway Patrol officers said the driver of the tractor-trailer was charged with driving left of centre, NBC affiliate WYFF reports. He was injured and taken to hospital by emergency medical services.
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