Rear-End Collision With a Hit-and-Run Driver
At 4:10 p.m., your bus is stopped at a red light with 30 students aboard. A pickup truck rear-ends the bus at about 25 mph. The impact pushes the bus forward 3 feet. You smell no fuel and see no smoke. The pickup driver backs up and leaves the scene. Two students complain of neck pain; one has a small cut on the forehead. The bus's rear emergency door is jammed. Traffic is passing on the left. You have a radio, a first-aid kit, and a fire extinguisher. Your dispatcher does not answer. A bystander offers to chase the pickup.
1. What are your immediate actions for scene safety and student care?
Read the worked answer
Set the parking brake, keep the bus in park, and turn on hazard lights. Check for fire, smoke, fuel, and electrical hazards before deciding whether students stay on the bus. With no fire or smoke and the bus apparently stable, keep students seated unless the bus is in immediate danger. Check the injured students, use gloves, apply first aid to the cut, and do not move anyone with possible neck or back injury unless there is fire or another immediate threat. Call 911, report the collision and injuries, and give the location. Do not let the bystander chase the pickup; ask the bystander to stay as a witness and to note the plate, direction, and description. Notify dispatch again and request police and EMS.
2. What post-crash reporting and evidence should you preserve?
Read the worked answer
Record the time, location, weather, road conditions, and what you were doing when struck. Note the pickup's color, make, plate if seen, damage, and direction of travel, plus witness names and contact information. Take photographs of the bus damage, the scene, and the students' visible injuries if appropriate. Complete the district and state required crash reports and notify school administration. Follow company policy and FMCSA post-accident testing requirements if they apply. Do not discuss fault with the other driver, students, or bystanders. Release students only to authorized persons or EMS, and document who left with whom.
3. A student's neck pain worsens while the bus is still in the traffic lane. Do you move the bus?
Read the worked answer
Do not move the bus unless there is an immediate danger such as fire, smoke, or a secondary collision threat. Moving the bus can worsen a neck or back injury and complicate rescue. Keep hazard lights on, request police traffic control and EMS, and keep the student still and calm. If a secondary crash is imminent, move the bus only the minimum distance needed to reach safety, then stop and wait for EMS. The decision balances spinal-injury risk against traffic danger; with no fire and police/EMS responding, the safer choice is usually to leave the bus in place and protect the scene.