It was a little after 8:15 am on the morning of May 9- 2005 and school bus driver Denise Thomas was driving Liberty School District Bus No. 80 and her 53 students on-board to Ridgeview Elementary School.
Thomas' bus was going southbound down a small hill on Missouri-291 north of Missouri-152 and picking up speed. Thomas claims she put her foot on the brake pedal- but the bus only went faster.
At the M-152 intersection (see GOOGLE StreetView image)- Ms. Thomas- still attempting to stop the runaway bus- veers right into a westbound M-152 turnoff (where the small white pickup is in the GOOGLE image) then plows straight ahead across the westbound M-152 lanes- over the median divider then into the traffic of the eastbound M-152 lanes.
Among the vehicles sitting on eastbound M-152 waiting for the traffic light were 2 cars containing their drivers: David Sandweiss and David Gleason.
Both were killed instantly (Last November- Sandweiss’ wife- Lana- committed suicide) as the bus rolled over and crushed their cars.
The bus then came to rest in the grassy area on the southwest side of the intersection.
Many of the 53 children on the bus were injured- 2 critically.
More than 4 years after the horrible crash- the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is about to release their findings on the cause of the wreck- according to The LIBERTY TRIBUNE.
That cause is likely to be "pedal misapplication."
That where you put your foot on the wrong pedal- the accelerator instead of the brake."
Denise Thomas isn't driving school busses anymore- and that's a GOOD thing.
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