School Bus Driver Cited For Crash Which Injured 23 Students

Tuesday, June 4, 2019 at 12:11 PM

By Mike Perleberg @mikedup84

The South Dearborn Community School Corporation superintendent says the bus driver has not driven students since the March 6 wreck.

Indiana State Police photo

(Dearborn County, Ind.) - The school bus driver who was involved in a March crash which hospitalized almost two dozen South Dearborn Community Schools students will not be criminally charged.

However, bus driver Raymond Nies will be cited for driving too fast as the glare of the sun was blinding him.

The crash happened the morning of Wednesday, March 6 when the school bus driven by Nies collided with a stopped Rumpke trash truck on State Road 350 near Mount Sinai Road. Twenty-three students ranging in ages 11 to 16 were sent to the hospital with injuries. One student was pinned between seats and suffered two broken legs.

Dearborn-Ohio County Prosecutor Lynn Deddens announced Tuesday that after a thorough investigation by Indiana State Police, Nies did not engage in criminal behavior. However, witness statements, video from the Rumpke truck, and evidence gathered at the scene showed Nies was blinded by the glare of the sun and did not slow down to a safe enough speed to avoid the crash.

Nies has been cited for a class C traffic infraction in Lawrenceburg City Court.

The specific traffic law cited by Deddens’ office is Indiana Code 9-21-5-1, which states:

(a) A person may not drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions, having regard to the actual and potential hazards then existing. Speed shall be restricted as necessary to avoid colliding with a person, vehicle, or other conveyance on, near, or entering a highway in compliance with legal requirements and with the duty of all persons to use due care.

(b) A person who drives at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent for the given weather or road conditions commits a Class C infraction.

“It is reasonable to believe that if a person operating a vehicle is unable to observe an actual and/or potential hazard, speed should be reduced until the actual and/or potential hazard can be avoided. The sun condition was clearly a contributing factor to visibility that required speed to be reduced,” according to a news release from Deddens’ office.

Deddens said neither Nies nor the trash truck driver were found to have drugs or alcohol in their systems after testing. Also, neither driver’s cell phone showed activity at the time of the crash.

South Dearborn Community School Corporation Superintendent Eric Lows said Nies was a driver for Hostettler, LLC at the time of the crash. Hostettler is the school corporation’s bus contactor.

Nies has not driven a school bus transporting South Dearborn students since the incident, according to Lows. He added that Nies’ future as a driver of South Dearborn students is still pending and may not be known until July 12 when the school corporation holds its annual transportation meeting.

The prosecutor acknowledged the South Dearborn Community School Corporation and Rumpke for cooperating with the state police’s investigation.

Deddens’ office also thanked the first responders who worked that school bus crash scene in March. Those who helped included regular citizens, Indiana State Police, ISP Motor Carrier Division, Dearborn County Sheriff’s Department, Moores Hill Police Department, Aurora Police Department, Lawrenceburg Police Department, Moores Hill Fire and EMS, Hogan Township Fire Department, Aurora Fire Department, Aurora EMS, Dillsboro EMS, Greendale EMS, Sunman EMS, Dearborn County Communications and Dearborn County Emergency Management.

Deddens also credited nurses and doctors at Highpoint Health and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

“In light of the seriousness of this crash, many individuals and entities need to be thanks for their tremendous assistance in securing safety and medical care of these young students,” the release stated.

Nies was not immediately available for comment on the citation Tuesday.

South Dearborn Superintendent Thanks First Responders In Bus Crash Statement

Indiana State Police's Official Release On South Dearborn School Bus Crash

22 Hurt In Wreck Between South Dearborn School Bus, Trash Truck