UNION, W.V. — A school bus driver charged with DUI after running off the road and down an embankment has resigned.

Clyde Watson was transporting 11 students on the morning of Feb. 5 when the accident occurred.

According to a Monroe County Schools statement, Watson apparently over-corrected after running off of the right side of a one-lane road. The bus then went off the road, taking out a telephone pole and traveling more than 120 feet to the bottom of a ravine, where the bus came to rest upright.

Emergency responders arrived at the scene but initially had difficulty reaching the bus because of the downed power lines. Once electric company workers arrived to cut the power to the lines and move them, the passengers were escorted out of the ravine.

Watson and the students were taken to a local hospital to be examined, but no one was injured.

The bus was removed from the ravine and taken to a local body shop to be examined by state inspectors.

Upon his release from the hospital, Watson was arrested and charged with DUI. At a special meeting held Monday night by the Monroe County Board of Education, Watson tendered his resignation.

According to a statement from the board, Watson said that he has a problem with alcohol and that he drank on the morning of the accident.

The district said that before the accident, Watson had 14 years of safe driving as a school bus driver.

 

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