Wilmington school bus crashes

WILMINGTON — For the second time in less than a week, a local school bus driver has been cited for causing an accident. Wednesday morning’s incident happened in downtown Wilmington.

On Thursday, a Pender County driver was issued a safe movement violation and Wednesday morning, a New Hanover County driver received the same citation.

Just before 8 a.m. Wednesday a school bus headed to D.C. Virgo, Williston and New Hanover High collided with a stopped car while turning left off of Wooster Street on to Eighth Street.

The bus driver, Latanya Grady, was ticketed, and according to a New Hanover County schools spokesperson has been pulled from the road until the matter goes to court.

The school system also says Grady had a clean driving record.

Wilmington Police investigating the accident say it may have had less to do with the driver, and more to do with the roads.

Larry Zettelmaier with the WPD Traffic Unit said, “All accidents are pretty much avoidable, but this is one where you just got a narrow street and the driver is trying to get through get her children picked up and collided with the vehicle. The wreck was her fault though and she was charged appropriately.”

The school system says they are now considering reconfiguring the bus routes. No major injuries were reported as a result of this accident.

The DMV says their most recent crash statistics show that out of more than 1,000 school bus crashes in the state, two percent were in New Hanover County, and less than one percent were in Pender and Brunswick Counties.