Florida school bus driver involved in crash that killed student has history of accidents, records show
School bus driver has history of accidents
It's been nearly two weeks since a Lake Minneola High School student died after getting hit by a school bus. FOX 35 News has learned new details about the 78-year-old driver's history of crashes this year, and that she was suspended for a short time after one of them.
It's been nearly two weeks since a Lake Minneola High School student died after getting hit by a school bus.
FOX 35 News has learned new details about the 78-year-old driver's history of crashes this year, and that she was suspended for a short time after one of them.
The Lake County School District said the driver is still employed but has been on leave since the deadly accident.
On October 2, police said 17-year-old Sherman Vannoy was riding his bike at a crosswalk, and the bus driver tried to swerve away. The bus ended up in the grass where it appeared to hit a metal fence.
A 17-year-old student at Lake Minneola High School was hit by a school bus on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023, the Florida Highway Patrol and Lake County Schools said.
A 17-year-old student at Lake Minneola High School was hit by a school bus on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023, the Florida Highway Patrol and Lake County Schools said.
According to records from the school district, it wasn't the first time the driver had an accident. At the beginning of the school year in late August, the same driver crashed into a car in the Minneola High School bus loop.
RELATED: Lake Minneola High School student hit, killed by school bus: officials
In a report, the driver wrote she was backing up to let someone else pass and didn't see a car right behind her.
According to a police report from last April, the bus driver tried to make a U-turn at an apartment complex and knocked over the community's call box. No students were on the bus for the first two crashes.
According to the district, the driver has been there since November 2021.
"Our response depends on the severity of the incident," said district spokesperson Sherri Owens when asked what happens when a driver crashes. "In a case like the most recent one, where there is a fatality, and we are awaiting the outcome of a law enforcement investigation, the driver did not go straight back to driving routes."
After the first two crashes, the district says the driver was brought before its safe driving committee and was given a two-day suspension.
FOX 35 News is not naming the driver since she has not been charged with a crime after the crash.