A school bus driver in Cherokee County has been accused of driving while intoxicated with children on the board. In response to the allegations, the 63-year-old bus driver was terminated by the school system as of Monday.
Only several miles away from the destination where he was going to drop off seven of his passengers, the school bus driver crashed the vehicle into a ditch. The driver was backing the vehicle up when it went into the ditch. After the accident, the bus driver contacted school officials by radio to request assistance. School officials called state troopers to report to the scene, which is standard procedure in any situation where a school bus is involved in a crash.
A new driver later came to the scene to transport the children back to their elementary school. And state troopers conducted multiple field sobriety tests on the allegedly inebriated bus driver. Troopers claim he did not “do well” on the sobriety tests and they chose to arrest him. Troopers further claim that the man had slow reaction times and glassy eyes, which led them to suspect that he was inebriated. Parents told reporters that they are grateful no one was injured in the incident.
According to a clerk of court, the bus driver paid his bond and was released from jail not long after the arrest. His next court appearance on DWI charges has been scheduled for Nov. 21.
The allegations against this school bus driver are certainly unfortunate. However, at this point, they are nothing more than charges and allegations. As such, the accused bus driver in this matter will have the ability to assert criminal defenses on his behalf, and he will be entitled to representation by a defense attorney during his criminal trial proceedings.
Source: wrcbtv.com, “UPDATE: Cherokee County bus driver charged with DWI with kids on board,” Oct. 18, 2016