A North Harrison Middle School bus carrying the school's volleyball team was struck from behind Wednesday evening after its driver attempted an illegal U-turn across an interstate median crossover on I-265 West, sending two students to the hospital and setting off a car fire that bystanders had to put out themselves. The crash happened around 4:56 pm near State Road 62 and 10th Street, near Jeffersonville and Clarksville, as the team traveled to a game in Charlestown.
According to WDRB, the bus had been traveling slowly on the emergency shoulder before the driver tried to cross into the eastbound lanes using a median crossover, based on the preliminary investigation. The bus stopped mid-turn when a westbound car hit it from behind. That car then caught fire, and bystanders extinguished the flames before anyone was seriously hurt. Indiana State Police spokesperson Carey Huls confirmed the bus driver was cited for an illegal U-turn.
The driver has since been identified as 69-year-old Debra Barr of Ramsey, Indiana, who was driving when the bus pulled onto the emergency shoulder before attempting a U-turn, according to WHAS11. The collision itself unfolded near the 33-mile marker on I-265 westbound in Clark County, according to WTHR, near the State Street interchange.
Why the Maneuver Was Illegal
Indiana Code § 9-21-8-19 bars non-emergency and non-maintenance vehicles from making U-turns or using median crossovers on freeways and interstates, a statute that appears to be at the heart of the citation issued to the bus driver. The maneuver involved a turn across high-speed lanes. Separate state law also requires school bus drivers to signal at least 100 feet before changing direction under Indiana Code § 9-21-12-14.
Two students suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to Norton Children's Hospital in downtown Louisville, the region's only Level I Pediatric Trauma Center and dedicated freestanding pediatric hospital. The driver of the car that struck the bus sustained minor injuries. The bus was carrying North Harrison Middle School volleyball players headed to a matchup against Charlestown; the game was cancelled, and Charlestown's athletic booster club said in a statement, “Shout out from Pirate Nation to North Harrison” and “We are with you.”
A Rough Week for Regional School Transport
The crash lands just two days after another local school bus, this one carrying 28 elementary students, overturned on Wilson Creek Road in neighboring Bullitt County, Kentucky, sending 14 people to regional medical centers, according to WDRB. The back-to-back incidents have drawn heightened attention to school transport safety across the Greater Louisville metro area during the first weeks of the school year.
North Harrison Community School Corporation, based in Ramsey, Indiana, includes the middle school whose volleyball team was aboard the bus. Statewide, Indiana school buses transport students to school. Indiana also has rules governing school-bus stop arms, with violations handled under state law.
The crash remains under investigation, and it is not yet known whether additional traffic charges or disciplinary action will follow once Indiana State Police complete their review.
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