A Tulsa school bus overturned after the driver went off the road and overcorrected at 41st Street and 129th East Avenue at 6:30 a.m. today.
The driver, who police say had a suspended license, and an 8-year-old girl, were on the bus and neither were hurt. The girl exited through the emergency door in the back.
The bus driver, Charles 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.
The bus was traveling east on 41st when one of its front tires went off the road after attempting to avoid a dog that had run into the street. West then overcorrected, which caused the bus to overturn, police said.
The 8-year-old girl's mother was at the scene and said her daughter, Kambria Thomas, attends school at Wright Elementary, 1110 E. 45th Place.
“I prayed over my daughter. Thank God she was OK,” said Karen Hopkins, the girl’s mother.
Hopkins said her daughter is the first passenger on the bus route. She planned to have her daughter attend school today.
Chris Payne, a spokesman for Tulsa Public Schools, said all drivers are required to report any tickets they receive to the transportation department.
TPS officials also perform periodic checks on the records of all drivers, he said.
West, who has been employed by TPS since March 2012, is suspended until an investigation is completed, Payne said.
He had not been involved in any other accidents while operating TPS buses, officials said.
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