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Two teenage girls badly injured after school minibus crash

8:38am Tuesday 1st December 2009 in


Two teenage girls have been seriously injured after being hit by a school mini bus just off the A27.

One girl, 14, has serious rib and chest injuries, including a punctured lung, and another, 13, has back injuries after the accident near Berwick Court Farm in Alfriston Road.

Another eight pupils who were travelling in the minibus have also been taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Both girls, who were pedestrians on their way to Ringmer Community College, have been taken to Eastbourne District General Hospital.

The 72-year-old minibus driver suffered scratches and bruising and declined medical aid.

The children on board the mini bus, four girls and four boys, were all between the ages of nine and 13.

The mini bus was on its way to St Andrews School in Eastbourne when the accident happened close to Drusillas Park.

Police, fire and ambulance crews attended the scene of the crash on the minor road off the A27 before 8am.

Sussex Police said it's believed the bus rolled over after skidding on surface water.

The accident has caused delays to traffic on the westbound A27.

Traffic jams have been made worse by queues of traffic leading up to the Drusillas roundabout as the road to Alfriston has also been closed due to flooding.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: "Police are appealing to drivers to avoid the scene and ask for any witnesses to contact 0845 60 70 999 quoting Serial 230 of December 1."

Comments(21)

supergus says...
2:53pm Tue 1 Dec 09

you said at the top the first girl was 14, then you said that all pupils on the bus were aged between 9-13?? report it right for once

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smilingseagull says...
2:59pm Tue 1 Dec 09

supergus wrote:
you said at the top the first girl was 14, then you said that all pupils on the bus were aged between 9-13?? report it right for once
read it again numpty!! the 14 year old was not on the mini bus.

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supergus says...
3:13pm Tue 1 Dec 09

numpty?? wat sorta word is that

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tsimpkins says...
3:15pm Tue 1 Dec 09

Who on earth employs a '72 year old mini-bus driver'?
The mind boggles. I hope the two girls who were badly injured recover quickly. Also, the driver has a serious think about his abilities.

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supergus says...
3:18pm Tue 1 Dec 09

tsimpkins wrote:
Who on earth employs a '72 year old mini-bus driver'?
The mind boggles. I hope the two girls who were badly injured recover quickly. Also, the driver has a serious think about his abilities.
does it matter how old the driver was, if he was 22 it would have still happened wat a stupid comment

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Charismatic Andrew says...
3:19pm Tue 1 Dec 09

tsimpkins wrote:
Who on earth employs a '72 year old mini-bus driver'? The mind boggles. I hope the two girls who were badly injured recover quickly. Also, the driver has a serious think about his abilities.
Agree. It does seem very odd.

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davyboy says...
3:45pm Tue 1 Dec 09

a lot of school bus companies employ retired staff, on a part-time basis, as they are usually available when the kids need to go to school! it is a shame when this sort of things happen, but as someone else pointed out, it probably wouldn't have made any difference what age the driver was. hope the two girls are ok, and also the kids in the minibus. there must have been an awful lot of water to cause this. it just goes to show that rain-soaked roads are very dangerous.

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Charismatic Andrew says...
3:53pm Tue 1 Dec 09

davyboy wrote:
a lot of school bus companies employ retired staff, on a part-time basis, as they are usually available when the kids need to go to school! it is a shame when this sort of things happen, but as someone else pointed out, it probably wouldn't have made any difference what age the driver was. hope the two girls are ok, and also the kids in the minibus. there must have been an awful lot of water to cause this. it just goes to show that rain-soaked roads are very dangerous.
All other news websites (e.g. BBC) are saying it was an icy road rather than surface water that caused the accident.

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Voice of Unreason says...
4:05pm Tue 1 Dec 09

Charismatic Andrew wrote:
davyboy wrote: a lot of school bus companies employ retired staff, on a part-time basis, as they are usually available when the kids need to go to school! it is a shame when this sort of things happen, but as someone else pointed out, it probably wouldn't have made any difference what age the driver was. hope the two girls are ok, and also the kids in the minibus. there must have been an awful lot of water to cause this. it just goes to show that rain-soaked roads are very dangerous.
All other news websites (e.g. BBC) are saying it was an icy road rather than surface water that caused the accident.
That's the Argus for you - as accurate as ever.
I too heard that it was FROZEN surface water (i.e. ice - Argus reporter) that caused the minibus to slide and turn over.
And by the way, supergus, you ask what a numpty is. Well, from your comment, you're a classic example.

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Made In Sussex says...
4:27pm Tue 1 Dec 09

Hmm

lots of rain, followed by first icy snap
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Quite sensible to assume roads would be icy or have iced over puddles.
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Adjuts driving accordingly then, thats what most of us did, whats wrong with this idiot who is also responsible for a bus full of passengers!

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longman says...
5:10pm Tue 1 Dec 09

I think you will find it is the school that employs the drivers, not a bus company. Private schools have their own buses and their own drivers! What about supervision for younger children on the buses? It is often the case that there are no other adults on the bus to supervise the kids, so if there is a problem, the driver will have to stop the bus in order to sort out the bad behaviour. Also, what type of checking of seatbelts goes on before the bus moves off? Kids are well known not to put their belts on if left to sort themselves out. I dont believe that the drivers do any sort of checking each child as they are picked up.

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AmmeH says...
5:15pm Tue 1 Dec 09

Its nice to see a school actively tackling truancy!

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lewes4126 says...
5:43pm Tue 1 Dec 09

Please do not be nasty about the driver - he did everthing that he could. It puzzels me though why the poice did not completely block the road off after it was known that there was dangerous ice

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lewes4126 says...
5:43pm Tue 1 Dec 09

Please do not be nasty about the driver - he did everthing that he could. It puzzels me though why the poice did not completely block the road off after it was known that there was dangerous ice

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Voice of Unreason says...
6:37pm Tue 1 Dec 09

lewes4126 wrote:
Please do not be nasty about the driver - he did everthing that he could. It puzzels me though why the poice did not completely block the road off after it was known that there was dangerous ice
Maybe they mistakenly thought we were all adult and sensible enough to be able to look out for obvious danger. Shut the road because of ice - why? Just drive slowly.

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Billy'sMum says...
8:41pm Tue 1 Dec 09

Does it matter ? Don't judge anyone... My daughter's friend's have been injured.... I just hope they they will be OK... So sad x Alfriston is a nightmare... so tiny... pavement's are an accident waiting to happen on a good day !

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sunny saltdean says...
9:34pm Tue 1 Dec 09

I hope all recover wel,l including the driver who must be in shock. However please don't blame Alfriston for being a beautiful village with narrow streets....people must adjust their driving speed to the conditions they find themselves in.

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Bren09 says...
5:53am Wed 2 Dec 09

it says the 14 yr old girl was a pedestrian not on the minibus if u read the article. Whilst i dont think it a problem employing a capable 72 year old to drive - i trusted my dad with my kids and he was 74 still a brilliant driver - however i see a minibus from a school in Seaford driving down my road virtually every morning and when i see the way the driver drives i think to myself i would not allow my kids to travel on that bus . i think they should have some sort of check on the people driving whatever their age.

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Thebuilderman says...
9:02am Wed 2 Dec 09

sunny saltdean wrote:
I hope all recover wel,l including the driver who must be in shock. However please don't blame Alfriston for being a beautiful village with narrow streets....people must adjust their driving speed to the conditions they find themselves in.
Alfriston isn't a beautiful village if you want to see a beautiful village go to Cornwall or France some very beautyful villages there and they know how to control traffic correctly.

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Made In Sussex says...
12:07pm Wed 2 Dec 09

Yes it does matter, and no one is being "nasty" to the driver.

When I set out that morning it was blatantly obvious there was going to be ice especially just after days iof rains and lots of puddles still around which as we know will freeze.
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I adjusted my driving accordingly, on some particulary rural roads that meant driving at half the normal speed but better that tahn risk accidents
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Quite simple common sense really, if every icy road had been closed that morning then many towns and villages would be completely cut off..

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tiny scouse says...
7:57pm Wed 2 Dec 09

why was he driving on a road that was still closed to traffic due to flooding after the river burst its banks.
even on monday moring a 7.5 ton lorry ignored the signs saying road closed and got stuck and had to be helped from his cab by the fire service

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