REPORT: Students Say IL Central Bus Driver Fell Asleep Before Crash
Two students in the crash say their concerns about a sleepy driver went ignored, according to media reports. The Jan. 27 crash happened in western Kane County.
Students in a Kane County crash last week said their school bus veered off the road because the driver fell asleep.
Student Holly Vantilburg was on the bus on the morning of Jan. 27 and heard the voice of an adult aide asking the driver if he was awake, ABC-7 News reports.
Shortly afterward the bus left the roadway, ended up in a ditch and fell on its side. Emergency crews responded to the crash at about 8:10 a.m. last Friday near Granart and Camp Dean roads in Big Rock, according to a Kane County Sheriff's Office news release.
Vantilburg, another student and their parents had reportedly contacted the bus company to complain about the driver prior to the crash, but he was investigated last fall with no further issues, according to a Daily Herald story.
The students were heading from their local school district in Sandwich to a specialized school in Naperville, the Sheriff's Office said. Six of the nine students on the bus were special needs students.
The Sandwich school district was not aware of the prior complaints against the driver, and the school in Naperville said it could only call about the complaint because it doesn't hold the contract with the buses, the Daily Herald story said.
The Sheriff's Office news release stated that the owner of the bus that crashed is Illinois Central School Bus Company. This is the same company that transports most of the bused students in Batavia Public Schools this year and some in Geneva as well. The company operates out of many areas, including a bus facility off of Randall Road in St. Charles.
The Kane County Sheriff's Office continues to investigate the crash.
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Russ
10:27 am on Saturday, February 4, 2012
Although I cannot understand why parents would continue to put the lives of their children in the hands of a driver whom they complained about, I'm confident that Illinois Central will resolve this situation the way they normally do: they'll assign the driver to a different route.
R W
6:59 am on Tuesday, February 7, 2012
I hope they do whats right.