A video of a school bus crash recently released by the Ohio State Highway Patrol shows the frightening reality of what happens when a bus with no seatbelts crashes.
(Warning: The following video contains content that may be disturbing to sensitive viewers.)
Released on Feb. 10, the video was taken on Dec. 19, 2019, from inside a Northern Local School District bus in Thornville, Ohio, which was transporting 30 high school students to school, CNN reports. The bus flipped onto its side after being struck by a driver who had run a red light, according to Columbus, Ohio’s WCMH. The video shows students trapped between the seats and the collapsed ceiling of the vehicle immediately following the crash.
The bus driver, 74-year-old Danny Hupp, appeared to remain calm, and helped students exit the bus. He and eight other bus passengers sustained injuries that were not considered life-threatening, and were taken to a nearby hospital following the crash, NBC reports. While no one was killed, the video remains concerning.
The driver of the vehicle that hit the bus told WSYX/WTTE he is now paralyzed from the waist down after the crash.
The video has renewed debate over whether school buses should have seatbelts, WCMH reports. While some say buses are designed to be safe without them, activist Rudy Breglia told WCMH that without seatbelts, buses are unsafe in rollovers and side crashes, and that the contrast of behavior between the bus driver — who had a seatbelt — and the students — who did not — demonstrates the need for passenger seatbelts in buses.
The Perry County Prosecutor’s Office is still investigating the crash, but it expects to file charges, reports WSYX/WTTE.