By Shawn Henry 
Fourteen elementary school students were hospitalized Thursday after a school bus carrying 48 children veered off the road and crashed into the woods in Gastonia, North Carolina. That should never happen. Not on a routine afternoon route. Not with nearly 50 young children on board.
The bus, transporting students from Bessemer City Primary School and Bessemer City Central Elementary School, went off the roadway at the intersection of Jenkins Dairy Road and Jenkins Road. According to authorities, the vehicle left the pavement and entered a wooded area. Emergency responders rushed to the scene.
Fourteen students were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police reported at least one child suffered a possible broken arm. The remaining students were transferred to another bus and taken back to school for pickup. The bus itself was towed away shortly after 5 p.m.
This is not a minor fender bender. A full-size school bus does not simply drift into the woods without a chain of failures — whether driver error, distraction, road conditions, or oversight. When a vehicle designed specifically to protect children ends up off the road and in trees, the system around it deserves scrutiny.
School transportation is supposed to be the safest part of a child’s day. That safety is not accidental. It relies on training, maintenance, supervision, and accountability. When 14 children end up in hospitals, even with injuries described as non-life-threatening, that’s a breakdown.
Parents entrust school districts with what matters most. They expect basic competence behind the wheel. They expect strict safety standards to mean something. Instead, nearly 50 families got emergency calls and a scene flooded with police and ambulances.
Emergency crews remained at the crash site while authorities asked drivers to avoid the area. That disruption is temporary. The anxiety for families is not.
This crash must not be brushed aside as just another incident cleared by a tow truck and paperwork. When a bus full of elementary students leaves the road and slams into the woods, it demands answers — not reassurances.
Because the next time, families may not be so lucky.
Source
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