School bus driver falls asleep at wheel, crashes empty bus

SALEM, Ore. — A private-school bus driver was cited by police for careless driving after they said he fell asleep behind the wheel and crashed the empty bus into two trees, a highway sign and a retaining wall, KATU News reports.

There were no passengers aboard the bus and no one was hurt in the collision, Salem Police Lieutenant Dave Okada told the news source.

Josiah Muckey was driving a Western Mennonite School bus when he crashed near an intersection at around 7 a.m., police told KATU News. Paul Schultz, the head administrator for the Western Mennonite School, told the news source that Muckey had dropped off students at the airport for their senior trip to Disneyland.

Schultz added that Muckey had worked at the school as a bus driver and in other positions for more than five years and has been a good employee, and Schultz thinks he will be able to continue working for the school as a bus driver, according to KATU News. The news source reports that it reviewed court records and found Muckey has no criminal history, and that he has a current school bus driving certificate that he renewed in March.

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