Patrol seeking charges against school bus driver

ST. LOUIS -- A driver who lost control of her school bus on a St. Louis-area freeway, injuring herself and most of the 26 children aboard, should be charged with careless and imprudent driving, investigators said Wednesday. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said it would seek charges against Linda Gilley, 50, of St. Louis after an investigation found she perhaps was driving too fast for conditions prior to the crash about 8:30 a.m. Monday on Interstate 64, west of the St. Louis city limit. Patrol Cpl. Jon Parrish said the patrol's report, recommending that Gilley be charged, probably would be forwarded to St. Louis County prosecutors next week.

Authorities said Gilley was driving the bus carrying grade-school students from St. Louis to a suburban school as part of a voluntary desegregation program when it flipped onto its side after Gilley crested a hill and found traffic in front of her was stopped. Gilley tried to stop, but the bus turned over and skidded about 100 feet.

No other vehicles were hit. Children, all of them ages 6 to 11, were able to get out through a back door and through the front, where the impact knocked out the windshield.

Gilley and Mitchshaneka "Meme" Russell, 8, were seriously hurt, and both underwent surgery later Monday at an area hospital. Both were in satisfactory condition Wednesday at St. John's Mercy Medical Center. A hospital spokesman said Gilley was not accepting media requests to comment.

On Wednesday, Parrish called the accident preventable, saying "several of the witnesses indicated she (Gilley) was driving too fast for conditions," not necessarily speeding. From her elevated driver's seat and because the bus was traveling downhill, Parrish said, Gilley should have been able to see the stopped traffic well in advance and stop.

"She should have been able to slow to a reasonable speed and bring the vehicle to a stop," Parrish said, adding that "it's really difficult to say, if ever, how fast she was going."

The bus was carrying St. Louis students to Shenandoah Valley Elementary School in Chesterfield from St. Louis, a Parkway School District spokeswoman said.

Hospitals said most of the injuries were minor.

Laidlaw Transit Inc., based in Naperville, Ill., operates the bus. Gilley has been with the company for about 11 months, spokesman Jeff Kintzle said.