Students avoid injury
Three injured students treated, released

Students exit a school bus that was involved in an minor accident Wednesday morning near the 17 mile marker along Interstate 40. [Photo by Daniel Zollinger/Independent]

By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — Three Gallup High School students who were involved in that school bus accident Tuesday morning were examined and released by local hospitals later that morning.

Ben Chavez, director of transportation services for the Gallup-McKinley County School District, said the three were sent to the hospital as a precaution. Two of the students were complaining of back pain and the third was pregnant.

The school bus was traveling west along Interstate Highway 40 at about 9:15 a.m. at mile marker 17 when it was sideswiped by another vehicle traveling in the same direction. The driver of the other vehicle veered to the right and then back to the left again, hitting the bus for a second time.

Chavez said the bus driver began slowing after the first impact but didn’t lose control of the bus at any time. The driver of the second vehicle kept going left and landed up on the other side of the interstate.

None of the other 33 students in the bus were injured.
This is the second accident of the year involving a district school bus, Chavez said. The first had no injuries and was classified as a fender bender.

With 160 bus drivers, accidents happen but said the odd thing is that most of the district accidents seem to happen when the weather is good.

“In inclement weather, everyone seems to be a little more careful,” he said.

The district hasn’t had a major accident with injuries for the past four years and Chavez said the district spends a lot of time providing bus drivers with training. All bus drivers must complete an 80-hour training course and get a commercial driving license before they can drive students.

New drivers also have to pass a drug test and Chavez said random drug tests are give annually during which more than 50 percent of the drivers are tested.