Driver in Kentucky school bus crash didn’t have enough rest to safely work, lawsuit alleges
The driver of the Magoffin County school bus that drove off an embankment, injuring 18 students, did not have enough rest to safely drive after working a late shift at a local convenience store the night prior to her early morning bus route, a lawsuit filed Wednesday alleged.
The suit is the second to be filed in Magoffin Circuit Court in relation to the crash which occurred around 7:30 a.m. Nov. 14 on Route 40.
Wanda Bailey, the bus driver who was also critically injured in the crash, began her route at 6:15 a.m., the complaint said. The night prior, Bailey completed a shift working at the Speedy’z gas station and convenience store in Salyersville.
Her shift did not end “until midnight, possibly later,” said Justin Peterson, the Lexington attorney who filed the suit, in an interview with the Herald-Leader. The amount of time between her shift at the gas station and driving the bus was not enough time to get sufficient rest as is laid out by the training needed to get a commercial driver’s license — the license required to drive a vehicle as large as a bus.
“Based on our investigation, there are a number of students who believe she may have fallen asleep at the wheel,” Peterson said.
Bailey, the county superintendent and the Magoffin County school board were named as defendants in the suit along with Fydah Foods, a Lexington-based company which owns the Speedy’z store. Fydah Foods “knew or should have known” that Bailey would be driving the bus “soon after her shift ended,” the suit said. The suit accuses Bailey of being negligent when driving the bus and accuses school officials of negligent hiring and training practices.
A request for comment sent to the school system is yet to be returned. Fydah Foods could not be reached before publication.
“These drivers are supposed to be trained that six hours of sleep or less triples your risk of an accident, working more than 60 hours per week increases your risk of accident by over 40% and that working multiple jobs, driving on long, rural, dark roads, also increases potential risk of accidents,” Peterson said.
The suit was filed on behalf of Samantha Perkins, a mother of two other students who were on the bus, and Kelly Adams, an 18-year-old senior at the high school. They are seeking damages in excess of $75,000.
In the crash, Adams suffered “multiple burst fractures to his spine and has been rendered a quadriplegic,” Peterson said. The senior, recently released from the hospital, can’t use his lower limbs or his right arm, has limited use of left arm and is aided by a specialized wheelchair.
“This young man who was planning on playing baseball in the spring and attending his senior prom, is now rendered disabled for life,” Peterson said.
Of the 18 students on the bus, 11 were released from medical care the same day as the crash. Others, who suffered more serious injuries, were released from care in the ensuing weeks.
Superintendent Chris Meadows said several of the students who were hospitalized were able to return to school before Christmas break while others were getting instruction at home.
The first lawsuit related to the crash was filed last week on behalf of two mothers who had daughters on the bus. That suit alleged that the county school system failed to provide and enforce adequate safety policies before the crash.
In response to that suit, Don McFarland, the school board’s attorney, said the school board properly trains and oversees all of its employees including bus drivers. He said the crash “was beyond the control of the Magoffin County School Board.”
During a news conference Thursday, Gov. Andy Beshear was asked if the state legislature was considering any school bus safety legislation after the Magoffin County crash and the crash of a bus in Wolfe County on Thursday morning. Beshear said he wasn’t aware of any current legislation.
“We’ve got to learn from every accident, from every tragedy,” said Beshear, adding that he had been worried about the lack of seatbelts on Kentucky school buses.
“I hope that we will ultimately learn facts... that will ensure that other kids never have to go through something like that,” Beshear said.
Staff writer Valarie Honeycutt Spears contributed to this report. This story may be updated.
This story was originally published January 5, 2023 at 3:00 PM.