UPDATE: Driver in Kane County School Bus Accident Was Allegedly Asleep at Wheel

We told you about that terrifying school bus accident that took place late last month in Kane County. A bus transporting special needs students to their school in Naperville left the pavement of Granart Road and tipped onto its side, ending up in a cornfield a few miles from Aurora Municipal Airport. A total of nine students were injured in that school bus accident. 

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Sadly, more bad news has emerged: there have been allegations that the school bus driver was asleep at the wheel at the time of the wreck. To make matters worse, a couple of students had complained beforehand that the bus driver had nodded off previously on numerous occasions while driving the bus.

An 18-year old female student claims that she noticed the bus driver falling asleep shortly after she began riding the bus in September. Once she noticed a pattern, the woman says that both she and her mother called Illinois Central School Bus (the operator of the vehicle) to complain about the driver's behavior. In addition, a 17-year old girl who rode the bus also reports noticing the driver nodding off. She insists that both she and her grandmother made several complaints about it, but that their concerns were ignored.

Both students said that on that fateful Friday morning, they heard the voice of an adult aide on the bus, who was yelling at the bus driver to wake up. Seconds later, they said the bus rotated sideways and many of the children (aged 5 to 19) began screaming.

The bus company claims that they did receive a single complaint about the bus driver falling asleep, and subsequently investigated the driver but found no evidence of such behavior. It insists that no other objections were raised about the bus driver's conduct after the initial complaint. Since the school bus accident, the driver has been suspended pending the investigation.

If proven true, these allegations of previous dangerous behavior by the bus driver might increase the chances of Illinois Central School Bus being found liable in any personal injury lawsuits filed by the parents of the injured students.