School Bus Accident on Dangerous Road Injures Students & Driver

CHARLOTTE, NC — Terrifying moments after a school bus with 23 children on board slams into a Charlotte home.

It’s not the first time something like this has happened in this neighborhood. Residents say they’ve complained about the dangerous road, and nothing’s been done.

MEDIC took 14 children to hospitals. Two students and the bus driver are still being treated.

The driver is on paid leave.  She told police she swerved to avoid a cat in the road. The incident report also says she was going 25 mph, but the posted speed limit is 10 on that curve.

“This bus just crashed into a house,” the words of a woman who called 911 just after the accident. “I’ve got bleeding children, broken bones. Ya’ll get out of the street babies. Get out of the street.”

Tense moments Tuesday morning in Southeast Charlotte after a CMS bus headed to Randolph Middle with 23 students on board crashed into a house on Briardale Drive.

“Kids were getting out,” says Joe Whitehead, who lives in that house. “They were screaming. They were yelling. I think they were in shock.”

“Most of the injuries were either broken bones, bruises or cuts,” says Tara Sullivan with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. “And at this time some of the students have already been released from the hospital.”

The bus driver had to be rescued. 7th grader Lee Siler was on the bus.

“I didn’t get to see her after the accident, but I think she was really hurt,” says Siler. “Some people in the front said that she flew up.”

There is no word on Latoeya Patton’s condition. She has been driving for CMS since 2004 with no disciplinary action.

Parents of students on bus 448 were notified immediately. Other Randolph parents received a call about the crash by early afternoon.

You can imagine the terror this morning for those students on that school bus as it came down this hill, missed this curve, went down this driveway – clipping that car – and then straight into the house.

The house with the collapsed deck, and wrecked car in the driveway, belongs to Joe Whitehead.

“This is the worst accident I’ve had at my house,” he says. “It just wiped out everything.”

But it’s not the first; not even close! Whitehead says he’s seen as many as 18 accidents through the years, totaling six of his vehicles. He also says he’s reached out to the city asking that something be done to make the street safer.

“Yeah, speed bumps, signs, anything!” says Whitehead. “And I think the best we got was 10-mile an hour curvy sign at the beginning of the curves.”

“Normally there’s cars that flip over the side,” says neighbor Brandi Kinard. “It’s very steep. I get very nervous when I see someone drive through this neighborhood really fast.”

CMS says the law requires all school buses be inspected every 30 days. Bus 448 was last inspected May 18th.

The district is also facing a shortage of bus drivers. There are currently more than 50 open positions.