Howard County parents react to scary rollover school bus crash with middle schools on board
BALTIMORE - Parents rushed to the scene in Howard County Thursday afternoon after a school bus carrying 19 middle school students rolled over.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren spoke with concerned parents.
The frightening moments unfolded just after 3:30 p.m.
A school bus filled with Hammond Middle School students rolled over.
Students had to climb out through the roof and back exits to safety.
Several students suffered minor injuries as parents quickly arrived to the scene.
"(My child) was floating for a minute," a parent said. "She just felt like she was floating."
"Megan said she just saw things spinning, and then there was silence on the bus and she doesn't remember any noise," said Kelly Abernathy, about her child's reaction. "And she feels like she almost blacked out because she lost track of time and couldn't remember what had happened and where she was. It just felt surreal to her."
The crash happened on a narrow stretch of Old Columbia Road.
The driver was not hurt.
Police say they are looking into whether speed played a factor.
"School buses are the safest way to get to school and I want to affirm to the parents who may be scared after seeing an accident like this," said Corinne Happel, a Howard County parent who runs Neighbors for Buses. "There is not a current recommendation for students to stop riding school buses. We definitely still want to get more students back on school buses in Howard County."
The driver in Thursday's crash works for a contractor, Zum, used by the Howard County Public School system.
Zum came under fire earlier in the school year for a breakdown in nearly two dozen bus routes stemming from driver callouts.
Happel notes this internal school's report expressed concerns about Zum.
"Our concerns were that for that small bus service was cut for 3,500 children and that was done in conjunction with the start-up of a new company coming to Howard County that had never operated buses on the East Coast before," Happel said. "There were a lot of concerns that parents reported in the beginning of the school year, but still to this day, there are concerns that parents have reported about this company and particular."
Zum issued this statement: "Getting students to and from school safely is our number one priority. We are working closely with the county and authorities to investigate the accident."
"I imagine all the children on that bus will have memories of this and I hope they can recover from what that felt like," Happel said.
Police have not said how long it will take to complete their investigation.
Students had a pre-scheduled day off on Friday.
