Students Injured After School Bus, Semi Collide in Brooksville

Parents in the Hernando County town of Brooksville received a terrible shock on Wednesday, April 18th, when reports began emerging that a school bus carrying numerous students to Hernando High School was struck by a semi truck hauling toilet paper as the two vehicles passed through an intersection.  Officers with the Florida Highway Patrol issued a statement on the incident which indicates that the crash took place at around 6:30 in the morning, before the official school day began, and while the bus was still in the process of collecting students and driving them to Hernando High School.

The bus was traveling down the western lane of State Road 50 as it neared the intersection of an exit ramp from Interstate 75.  On this exit ramp was a semi truck full of toilet paper that was attempting to leave the interstate and merge onto the westbound lanes of State Road 50.  The light leading from the exit ramp and onto State Road 50 was red, but the driver of the semi-truck, for reasons that are currently the focus of an investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol, failed to stop fully for the light and instead continued on into the intersection.

It was at this point that the truck collided with one of the back ends of the school bus and sent the bus tipping over onto its side.

18 students were inside of the bus at the time of the collision, and it was believed that six of them experienced minor injuries as a result of the crash.  The drivers of the bus and the truck were both exempt from injuries as were the remaining 12 students.

Emergency personnel arrived shortly after the collision and treated the six injured students at the scene of the collision.  The report indicated that none of these six were injured badly enough to require transportation to a hospital.

As the investigation progresses it is likely that additional charges will emerge, but we do know that the driver of the semi is currently facing a citation for failing to properly obey a traffic signal.

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.