It’s a terrifying thing to realize that a normal day can turn dangerous in the blink of an eye, but that’s exactly what happened earlier this month to one unsuspecting school bus driver in Hinds County, MS. In a truly scary illustration of how risky speeding can be, authorities say a fast-moving white sedan crashed into a school bus head-on, resulting in injuries to three people.
According to school officials, the accident happened a little before 8:30 a.m. just outside Central Hinds Academy. Thankfully, no students were on the bus at the time, just the driver and a bus monitor. As the school bus was preparing to go around a corner she noticed an oncoming vehicle in her lane. The car, a white sedan, was traveling at a very high rate of speed and nothing could be done to avoid the crash. Instead, the bus driver had to simply brace of impact.
One witness reported seeing the driver of the white car pass by moments before the crash, estimating that the vehicle was traveling more than 90 miles per hour at the time. Given the speed and the curvy road, an accident was all but inevitable.
The impact of the accident was so loud that the principal of nearby Central Hinds Academy heard the news and came running, eager to do what he could to help. The white sedan had caught on fire and quick thinking led the first responders to put it out with the fire extinguishers from the school bus. The driver of the white car was flown to a nearby hospital for medical treatment after emergency responders realized he had suffered serious injuries. The driver and monitor of the school bus were also taken to the hospital, but with thankfully less critical injuries.
The accident serves as a good reminder of the danger that comes from driving faster than road conditions allow. Speed limits exist for a reason, with engineers working out how fast a car can safely travel on a stretch of road. Going 90 miles per hour on even the best of road conditions is dangerous; doing so on a curvy road is begging for trouble. Stopping is nearly impossible and losing control of your vehicle becomes likely. In fact, experts say that a car traveling at 90 miles per hour requires 603 feet of total distance before coming to a complete stop, or nearly two football fields.
If you have been injured in a Mississippi car, motorcycle or tractor-trailer accident and think you may have a personal injury claim, please contact the Mississippi personal injury attorneys at Kilpatrick & Philley at 601-707-4669.
Source: “Car, school bus collide,” by Allie Ware, published at WAPT.com.