Driver of NC school activity bus cited for wreck

CHARLOTTE — The driver of a school activity bus that rolled onto its side on a North Carolina highway, injuring dozens of students, has been cited for reckless driving.

The Highway Patrol said Thursday they think Tonia Crowell was distracted by a bee while driving a group of students from Cox Mill Elementary School in Concord on Interstate 77 early Wednesday.

Troopers say Crowell swatted at the bee and drifted off the highway.

A spokeswoman for Cabarrus County schools says Crowell has been suspended with pay. All but one of the 36 students injured in the crash have been released from local hospitals.

Officials said the bus was one of three taking the school’s entire fifth-grade class to an annual overnight trip in Lake Wylie, S.C.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)