Court Reinstates Part of Bus Wreck Case

A school bus transporting Lee High School students to a local trade school, overturned over a retaining wall on an elevated part of Interstate 565 at the U.S. highway 231 exit and plummeted 30 feet. There were 4 that were killed when the bus wrecked. 3 were killed on the day of the accident and the 4^{th teenager died the next day. A 1990 Toyota Celica apparently hit the side of the school bus. The bus driver apparently attempted evasive action, and a reaction sent the right tire climbing up the protective barrier. The buses momentum caused it to teeter on the wall briefly, flipped upside down, careening headlong onto the ground below.}

In a recent opinion, the Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that the lack of seat belts in the school bus that crashed can be used in a lawsuit against the bus manufacturer. A judge had ruled the issue of seat belts in school buses should be addressed by the Legislature, not by the courts. The Legislature has not addressed safety belts in school buses since 1986.