July 13, 2011 - Carrollton, Ga. - Sentencing was held on Tuesday for a 59-year-old bus driver who was responsible for a bus accident, in Carrollton, that killed a 17-year-old boy last year. According to a report at the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the driver received a plea deal in exchange for his guilty plea, which resulted in one year's probation and a small fine.
The charges stem from a fatal bus accident on Oct. 4, 2010. The driver was transporting students from Temple High School when he lost control of the school bus on Georgia 113. The bus crashed and rolled several times, injuring more than 12 students. A 17-year-old boy was killed when he was ejected from the bus during the rollover.
The driver was in training during the accident, and reporters later discovered that he had 2 prior accidents during his training period. On the same day as the accident, the driver hit a dog. A month earlier, he backed into another school bus while parking. His trainer said he had trouble staying within his lane and would speed on occasion.
The victim's family was disappointed with the plea deal, saying that the driver should have been charged with vehicular homicide.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's 2009 Georgia Crash Statistics, there were 1,284 fatalities as a result of car accidents in Georgia.
As a service to the residents of Atlanta, our firm will frequently publish blogs about local traffic accidents. We do this to raise awareness about the common types of motor vehicle accidents that occur in Georgia that may result in serious injury or traffic fatalities.
Common accidents include, but are not limited to:
- single-car accidents;
- accidents caused by hazardous road conditions; and
- accidents caused by aggressive driving or distracted drivers.
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