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School District Calls For Inspection Of Dump Truck Co. After Bus Wreck
August 28, 2015
Superintendent Malcolm Thomas is issuing a letter to the Compliance Investigation Unit of the Florida Highway Patrol requesting a thorough safety inspection of the fleet of trucks owned and operated by G. B. Green Construction Management, LLC, the owners of the truck involved in the accident with an Escambia County school s Thursday afternoon at Pace and Jordan street. Sixteen students were injured in that crash.
“While there is complete confidence in the investigation into yesterday’s accident, I would like to request the Compliance Investigation Unit of the Florida Highway Patrol thoroughly inspect Green Construction’s entire fleet before they are allowed on our roads,” stated Thomas. “Hopefully, this company will cooperate with the state in the interest of preventing future accidents.”
Thomas contacted each Escambia County School Board member today to make them aware of the letter requesting the inspections.
Thomas has also been in communication with Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan who also supports this preventative effort.
“We are grateful that no one on the bus was seriously hurt. When our driver proceeded through the intersection she was operating in accordance with the law, but when she saw that truck headed her way and not slowing down, all she could do was try to get out of the way. The truck hit the rear left side of her bus, flipping the bus on its side and driving it into a power pole,” Thomas said. “Thanks to the bus driver’s quick reaction, as well as the design of the bus, the students and adults inside were able to safely walk away.”
“From the images of the tires we have all seen in the media, that truck should not have been on the road,” Thomas continued. “No motorist should have to worry that a truck coming up the road toward them is unsafe.”
Superintendent Thomas’ letter requests a complete and thorough investigation by the Compliance Investigation Unit, of the Florida Highway Patrol of the G.B. Green Construction Management, LLC company, its fleet of vehicles, its fleet maintenance program and practices, and it commercial motor vehicle operator hiring practices.
“The school bus was damaged but, it did its job,” added Thomas. “It protected everyone on board. The students are to be commended as well. They reacted in a calm and orderly way as they helped each other off of the bus. The district is proud of each and every one of them, their driver, the bus aide and thankful for the many people who came to their assistance.”
The school district is issuing this request to the Florida Highway Patrol with the sincere hope that the owners of this fleet of dump trucks will comply with the request, take the trucks off the road, inspect each one to ensure they are safe, and make any necessary repairs before they put any of their trucks back on the road, the district said in a news release.
Tire photos courtesy Andrew McKay, NewsRadio 1620 for NorthEscambia.com. Other photos are NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
14 Responses to “School District Calls For Inspection Of Dump Truck Co. After Bus Wreck”
I worked construction for 20 years and this was a problem at every construction company I worked for. There were several times individuals were ticketed for non moving violations, tail lights, turn signals, and yes out of date tags. who paid the fines? The drivers of course. Until the owners of these vehicles are held responsible, this problem will not go away.
There is always someone willing to take the risk, so refusing to operate unsafe equipment is pretty much asking to be fired. And yes I have seen people fired for this. On one occasion an individual was fired for asking the employer to pay the fine.
Get real people, this is how it works in the owner operator world of dump truck driving……………
You haul as much as will fit, no matter if your overloading the truck and tires.
You then run the tires until they blow.
You run the brakes until you do not have enough strength in your leg to get it to stop good.
For drivers working for someone else……….you might look it over before you start the day. But your not going to refuse to drive cause of equipment problems.
Your going to drive cause you dont want to lose your job.
That is the real world.
Getting caught by the D.O.T. cops is a crap shoot all are willing to take.
The DOT requires that all drivers make a pre and post trip inspection of the commercial vehicle they are going to drive. Any discrepancy is to be noted and repaired. There is no excuse for a vehicle in this condition to be on the road. The driver takes the responsibility once he chooses to take the vehicle instead of having it repaired.
Bob C… drivers are held responsible faster than the owners of company vehicles that are dangerous on the road when involved or not involved on wrecks.
Walked away , as opposed to planning a child’s funeral and him/her being carried to his/her grave. I like the fact that Malcolm Thomas is backing his driver and students, he has been on the front line since being notified of the accident, and when he was notified he had no way of knowing who’s fault the accident was. He hasn’t shied away from this.
Want to say thank you to all of the first responders, civilians, and school board for everything they’ve done!
Don’t even try to blame this on equipment, the dump truck driver screwed up, plain & simple. It is the DOT’s responsibility to keep questionable vehicles off the road, & in my experience as a longhaul driver, they do an excellent job.
Really people .. Upset over the phrase walked away .. Wow here’s a bus driver that by experience and God managed to make sure everyone on that bus survived . That was a awful accident that could have so much worse . I would be thankful that the worse is a weekend hospital stay . Be thankful that you have someone that loves your children enough to do what ever she or he could do to make sure all you had to be mad about was a phrase walked away . Thank you bus driver for saving those children . Thank you Malcolm Thomas for requesting the DOT investigate the company so maybe we all are safer on the roads that we all drive everyday.
This dump truck’s condition is all too often what I see when stopped next to one in traffic. Bald tires do not stop.
A set of honest tires cannot possibly be more costly than a lawsuit or injury or worse to another person.
Drivers drive, owners are responsible for making sure their equipment is in safe condition.
“Walked away” trauma alerts are called for a list of reasons. Sometimes it’s paramedic discretion other times its quite obvious. The fact there were no serious injuries reflects the driver decision/reaction and the safety of the school bus. If you complain of an injury at a crash and want to go.to the hospital you are normally transported by ambulance. Trauma alerts are called preemptively to insure the resources are available at the hospital in case of serious injury which they cannot see.
No one was seriously hurt? A friend’s son is spending the weekend in the hospital as result of this.
Two of the injuries were “trauma alerts” and were transported by ambulance, as were a few others.
I believe that they have all been treated and released….I think that was the intent of the quote in the school district press release since they “walked away” today hopefully with no lasting injuries
I thought that “According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 16 students were transported to area hospitals, two as “trauma alerts”, as reported earlier in North Escambia. Was the FHP report rescinded or corrected?
Injuries doesn’t mean they were not able to walk away. Injuries were possibly not major.
Walk away? The story about this earlier said multiple injuries.