A Tulsa elementary school student narrowly avoided injury when the school bus she was on overturned Wednesday morning.
The bus was traveling east near 41st Street and 129th East Avenue about 6:30 a.m. when one of its front tires went off the road after attempting to avoid a dog that had run into the street.
The driver then overcorrected, which caused the bus to overturn, Cpl. Brian Collum said.
The driver, Charles West, who police say had a suspended license, and 8-year-old Kambria Thomas, were on the bus, and neither were hurt. Thomas exited through the emergency door in the back, he said.
"He had just started his route. If this had been the end of his route, we would have had a school bus full of children," Collum said.
Thomas' mother, Karen Hopkins, was at the scene and said her daughter attends Wright Elementary School, 1110 E. 45th Place.
“I prayed over my daughter. Thank God she was OK,” Hopkins said.
West, 36, was cited for inattentive driving and for driving with a suspended license, police said.
Records show his license was suspended Sept. 11 for failing to pay a citation he received in June for an improper tag violation on his personal vehicle.
Chris Payne, a spokesman for Tulsa Public Schools, said all drivers are required to report any tickets they receive to the Department of Transportation.
TPS officials also perform periodic checks on the driving records of all drivers "semi-annually and annually," according to Rosalyn Vann-Jackson, TPS assistant director of transportation.
Applicants are also required to undergo a routine Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation background check, finger printing, drug screening and vehicle inspection, she said.
West, who has been employed by TPS since March 2012, is suspended until an investigation is completed.
He had not been involved in any other accidents while operating TPS buses, officials said.
Local
Convicted of a murder that occurred when he was 13, the now 30-year-old has spent most of his life in a maximum-security prison.
An anthropologist from the office has been at the lake and is returning there today to help gather three more sets of remains to be taken to the Oklahoma City office.
CONTACT THE REPORTER
918-581-8386
Email
