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Boy falls out of moving school bus

A preliminary investigation finds that the bus driver opens the bus doors for better visibility while stopped at railroad tracks and then makes a left turn onto a road, apparently forgetting to close the bus doors. The child falls onto the road during the turn, and the driver doesn't realize what happened until other students notify him.

January 18, 2011
1 min to read


BATON ROUGE, La. — A 5-year-old boy suffered minor injuries after falling out of a moving school bus on Friday morning.

A preliminary investigation by the Baton Rouge Police Department found that the school bus driver, Cothern Williams, opened the bus doors for better visibility while stopped at railroad tracks. He then proceeded across the tracks and made a left turn onto a road, apparently forgetting to close the bus doors.

During the turn, the child somehow fell out of the bus and onto the road. The driver did not realize what happened and continued to drive for about a hundred yards until he was notified by other students of the incident, at which time he stopped and went back to check on the boy. By that time, an off-duty Baton Rouge firefighter who had been behind the bus had already stopped to render aid.

The child was transported by emergency medical services personnel to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries. No citations have been issued, and the investigation is ongoing.

Topics:Safety

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