Video released in Crosby ISD bus crash that injured 16 students, driver
HARRIS COUNTY (KTRK) -- Crosby ISD has released surveillance video that captured the moment a school bus flipped over last Friday in northeast Harris County.
The accident injured 16 students and the driver after it crashed into a ditch on FM 1942 at Bohemian Hall Road. In the video, you can clearly see the driver ask the students a question about the route, then lose control of the bus.
"Anybody get off here?" the bus driver asked.
The bus ended up on its side in a ditch with 50 students inside.
Crosby ISD Superintendent Keith Moore posted this statement on Facebook:
On September 23, 2016, Crosby ISD Bus #213 was involved in an accident on FM 1942 at approximately 3:15 pm. The bus carried 52 middle school and high school students that were en route home. The bus was being driven by veteran CISD bus driver, Brenda Armster. Ms. Armster has 25 years of experience driving buses for Crosby ISD and was filling in for the regular bus driver that did not report to work that day. After careful review of the statements taken from the students and driver and video footage from within the bus at the time of the accident, it appears that Ms. Armster looked up into the mirror to ask students about the upcoming stop. Those few seconds of distraction were apparently enough to cause Ms. Armster to fail to see the truck that was stopped on FM 1942 in the process of making a left turn. When Ms. Armster did see the truck, she was too close to stop and instinctually pulled the bus to the right to avoid collision. Similar to many roads in the area, 1942 has a narrow shoulder and deep ditches. When the bus left the road, it slipped into the ditch and on to its side. Once the accident happened, Ms. Armster, the students, CISD staff, first responders, parents and community members all did a great job of calmly working through a tough situation. We regret the accident occurred, and we will use this as an opportunity to train and improve the future. The safety of our students is vitally important to Crosby ISD. I'd like to first sincerely thank our first responders and all who helped, including the students on the bus who showed tremendous composure and maturity.
Respectfully,
Keith Moore
Witnesses told Eyewitness News that when the bus driver tried to avoid hitting a truck, the bus veered off the road.
"When I saw everything happen, I dropped everything and ran over there," Damon Martin said. "We took down the back door and we were using the back door to go inside and get everybody out to make sure they were safely put away from the scene."
Investigators have not cited the driver.
Eyewitness News spoke to the driver, but she declined to comment.
