As reported by Eyewitness News 9 in North Carolina, the number of accidents involving school buses in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools jumped by almost 9 percent between July and December in 2016.
CMS officials said they reported 184 accidents involving school buses from July 1 through December. That is in comparison to the 169 accidents that occurred within the same time frame in 2015.
A school bus driver, who remained anonymous, mentioned one reason for the accidents may be an increase of unruly students on the buses.
CMS says 107 of the 184 accidents were “preventable”, or essentially deemed to be the driver’s fault.
Another driver told Eyewitness News that one reason could also be the strain created by an ongoing driver shortage.
“Because of the shortage of drivers, the routes have been doubled up, extra routes given to drivers, and it makes for a long day,” she said adding those days can stretch to 10 hours or more.
A CMS spokesman forwarded questions to the system’s director of transportation, but there is no current response.
