CHESAPEAKE – A bus slipped off the side of Tallow Ridge Road in Chesapeake Friday afternoon, briefly trapping 12 children and one adult.

Saturday, September 18, 1999

CHESAPEAKE – A bus slipped off the side of Tallow Ridge Road in Chesapeake Friday afternoon, briefly trapping 12 children and one adult.

There were no injuries, Southeast Ohio Emergency Medical Service technicians said.

Greg Fox was driving the school bus with 12 Open Door School and Tri-State Industries students on board when he came upon a Chesapeake school bus in a sharp curve on Tallow Ridge Road, said Gary Maynard, Chesapeake-Union Township Volunteer Fire Department chief.

"He met another bus and got over too far and dropped off the side of the road," Maynard said.

When the bus dropped over the edge of the road, Fox said he had all the students get up and move to the road side of the bus to steady it while they waited for help.

A radio, like ones installed in all Open Door School buses, allowed Fox to call for assistance, he added.

"I called my transportation supervisor and he got the proper officials down here," Fox said.

The bus slid over the side of the road at about 3:45 p.m., and Chesapeake-Union Township firefighters arrived at the scene immediately.

"We got the driver out," Maynard said. "He was still in the seat. We took him out the back. We were afraid if we would have taken him out the other side, the bus would have tipped. Everything’s OK, though. The kids were just scared to death."

Even though they were scared, the students remained calm and followed proper safety procedures, Fox said.

"They did real good," he said. "We do evacuation drills and they followed the procedure just like they were supposed to."

No citations were issued by responding Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers, said Trooper Shane Salyers.

"He got over so two buses could pass," Salyers said. "As narrow as the road is, that is difficult. But there was no contact made by the buses. There was no damage to the buses, and there was no one injured. It just so happened that the tire went over the edge of the pavement and the weight of the bus slid it the rest of the way. It couldn’t have went much farther. They were lucky – very, very lucky."

The incident will be looked into by school administrators, however, said Jim Thacker, school superintendent.

"All bus accidents are looked at thoroughly," Thacker said. "We consider any and all accidents serious enough to be of concern."

Other responding county agencies included Rome Township Volunteer Fire Department.

Cogan’s Wrecker Service removed the bus from the side of the road.