A school bus going to Tahoma High School to pick up the rest of the Tahoma High School Boys Swim team in Maple Valley decided to ignore closed road signs and drive around them on SE 240th St in Maple Valley. While going through the flowing water, the bus ran off the road into the extremely flooded ditch (which the bus driver did not see) and tipped over on its side! The 5 swimmers from Tahoma Junior High on their way to pick up the other team members and the bus driver were not injured at all, but quite a laugh out of the situation.The bus driver claims to "not have seen" the road closed sign, however she clearly drove around it to proceed on the road, where she eventually became stuck. Obviously, the lesson here is to not ignore closed road signs! The 5 swim team members were eventually transported to the high school via another bus, where they picked up the other team members and proceeded to Kent Meridian High School to win their first meet of the season!
School bus gets stuck on closed road
by t_reinhard (Subscribe)
Posted on: Jan 8, 2009 at 8:38 PM PST
Channel: Weather & Scenery
Location: Maple Valley, WA
Great story and photos. I'm glad no one was hurt.
How much will it cost the tax payers to fix the bus. Driver should be suspened if not let go.
That is scary...the :"school bus" decided to ignore the closed road signs. Is tis a smart bus that makes decisions? What about the driver? Sounds like neither made real good decisions.
Suicidal bus drivers should be fired.
I find it strange I'm the only one to mention the irony of having the swim teams bus get stuck due to flooding.
Driver probably doing the best they could with what they had. The question is not driver but Supervisor or even Superintedent. Why even be going down that road in the first place!
In the bus driver's defense, the signs are pointed the other way. There may not have been a road closed sign on the other side of the closed area. I have seen this before....even today. Driving around might have been best option, but carefully...
I live on the street where this took place. The flooded area is clearly marked with huge "Road Closed" signs on both sides. I can't believe the bus driver is claiming she didn't see the signs and barricades!! I'm glad she got suspended.
i am bothered most by the danger it put the students in and also the cost to tax payers. Our most precious loved ones are being driven by idiots.......glad no one was hurt
Angus_MacL says ...
On Thursday, Jan 8 at 9:50 PM
There's a driver who's about to be looking for a new job!