Bus Driver To Be Charged In Crash That Injured Over Two Dozen Philly Students Heading To DC
HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. (CBS) — The bus driver involved in a crash that injured over two dozen students from Philadelphia will be charged, Harford County State's Attorney Joseph Cassilly announced Wednesday.
The accident happened on Interstate 95 in Maryland on May 15.
The bus driven by Clarence Beamer Jr. was carrying nearly 30 eighth-graders from Charles W. Henry School in Philadelphia's Mount Airy neighborhood to a field trip in Washington, D.C., when the bus collided with another vehicle and landed on its side, near the Havre de Grace exit.
Investigators say recordings from cameras on the bus show that the bus was travelling in the center lane. A second bus can be seen to the rear in the slow lane and a car can be seen approaching the bus from the fast lane.
As the car comes next to the bus, the bus begins changing lanes into the fast lane and forcing the car onto the shoulder. Investigators say the car reaches the front of the bus when the recording abruptly ends.
Based on the video, charges of negligent driving contributing to an accident and failing to drive in a designated lane will be filed against Beamer.
