Brake failure causes bus crash, minor injuries

By GREG JORDAN
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

June 18, 2008 09:44 pm

— RICHLANDS, Va. — A brake failure sent an adult care home’s bus into a creek Wednesday morning, but only minor injuries were reported.
The accident occurred at 11:20 a.m. when a small shuttle bus carrying residents and staff members from Baxter House, a care facility at Keen Mountain in Buchanan County, approached an intersection along U.S. Route 460, said Sgt. Michael Conroy of the Virginia State Police in Wytheville,Va.
“Nine residents of Baxter House and three staff members were on the bus,” Conroy said. “The bus was coming onto Route 460 from Route 730, and the driver indicated that she thought the brakes had failed, and she basically went straight through the intersection and into a creek.”
Conroy said he had been told that the home’s three staff members were not injured. Units with the Dismal River Rescue Squad transported the residents to Clinch Valley Medical Center in Richlands, Va. All had minor injuries, mainly cuts and bruises, he said.
The Oakwood Fire Department was also dispatched to the scene.
Trooper A.W. Boyd, who investigated the accident, said that the bus had proper endorsement, tags and inspection stickers, Conroy said. The cause appeared to be mechanical failure and no charges were filed.