Child dies after car pushed into bus

By Staff (89591)

Thursday, February 15, 2007
© Copyright 2013 Gwinnett Daily Post

LAWRENCEVILLE - A 6-year-old girl was killed Wednesday in an accident involving a Gwinnett Transit bus.

According to police, the child was riding in a Nissan Altima with her parents Wednesday when the car was struck from behind and pushed into the bus, which was traveling on Old Norcross Road near Boggs Road.

The child's mother has serious injuries and her father has minor ones, Gwinnett County Police spokesman Cpl. Darren Moloney said. A woman who was driving the Chevy Malibu "that started the whole thing" was transported to the hospital as well, Moloney said.

There was no indication of impairment by any of the drivers, and an investigation is continuing, he said.

According to Gwinnett Transit Director Tim Collins, the bus was traveling to Gwinnett Place Mall to begin a route when the accident occurred.

While Collins said the bus was simply "in the wrong place at the wrong time" and not at fault, according to preliminary reports, it is the third high-profile incident involving a transit bus in recent months.

In December, an express bus became fully engulfed in flames, shutting down Interstate 85 for hours during Atlanta's rush hour, and another bus fire stopped traffic last week.

Collins said the county has directed its transit provider Veolia Transportation to address the fires - the fifth in the past 18 months - and mechanics are inspecting every bus every time it pulls out of the transit hub every shift.

Officials with DaimlerChrysler, which constructed the Orion fleet, were in Gwinnett to study the situation.

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