2017 has gotten off to a chilly start, and Nashville parents have a bone to pick with Metro Schools. On Friday, January 6, Metro Schools decided to keep the school district open despite bad weather. As a result, hundreds of students were put at risk. Nearly a dozen bus crashes were reported during the morning and afternoon that day because of icy roads, though fortunately, no one was injured. One bus slid into a mailbox, two others were stuck in ice and at least one bus ran off the road.
The decision to keep schools open was made at 5am that day, when school officials believed that the worst of the icy weather would not hit Nashville proper. At 8:45, the mistake was made known when the school district made the announcement that school would be dismissed early due to the weather.
SCHOOL BUS ACCIDENT LIABILITY
When children are injured in a school bus accident, there can be many parties at fault. The most obvious is the driver, who may have committed negligence that leads to an accident (as in the case of the Chattanooga bus crash late last year, which killed six children and injured more). But in a situation involving icy roads, is it the driver’s fault, or the school district for failing to close down school for the day?
In such a situation, the school district would likely share some of the blame for school bus accident injuries. However, this may not absolve the driver completely of liability if it can be proven that the driver behaved unsafely, such as driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol or speeding on clearly icy roads.
Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”