Florida school bus driver with 12 students on board kills a motorcyclist with wrong turn
It’s no secret that riding a motorcycle is inherently dangerous. Riders trade the protection of safety features like airbags and seatbelts for cathartic exposure to the elements and the road. However, it’s especially difficult to be safe on a motorcycle when other drivers endanger riders. Tragically, one Florida motorcyclist died after a school bus driver committed a road faux pas and turned into the rider’s path.
A Florida motorcyclist died after a school bus driver with 12 passengers absent-mindedly turned into the biker’s path
A Florida school bus driver is under investigation following an incident that left a motorcyclist dead. The bus driver was driving near U.S. Route 301 in Riverview, Florida when she attempted to make a left turn on the route. Tragically, the turn put the school bus driver directly in the path of a rider on his Suzuki motorcycle.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, the motorcyclist crashed into the school bus after it made the turn. Police say the Suzuki rider then swerved into another vehicle, a pickup truck. Tragically, the school bus driver was attempting an unprotected left under a flashing yellow signal.
The 26-year-old rider on the Suzuki motorcycle died from his injuries, according to Florida Highway Patrol. In an added tragedy, the school bus was carrying 12 passengers at the time of the incident. Fortunately, however, police reported that no one else was seriously injured in the incident.
Understandably, the school district was quick to suspend the driver’s duties pending an investigation. Tanya Arja, a spokesperson for Hillsborough County Schools said that the driver had been “pulled from duty, while we wait for crash investigation details from law enforcement.” That’s pretty typical, too. Many school districts will suspend or remove a driver from service following an incident like a crash.
Of course, with the sheer number of school bus routes in the United States, accidents happen every day. In fact, American school buses get into around 26,000 accidents per year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
