Bus driver, students ok after rollover crash

PANAMA CITY - The students and driver in a Bay District school bus that was involved in a roll-over accident are all fine, district officials said Friday afternoon.

Eight students - four from Waller Elementary and four from Merritt Brown Middle School - and driver Nancy Brown were taken to local hospitals after a 2000 Nissan car struck the rear of the bus causing it to flip over clockwise and land on its left side, investigators with the Florida Highway Patrol said in a news release.

The wreck happened at about 6:30 a.m. Friday morning on State 20 a few miles west of U.S. 231.

Shantal R. McGuire, 21, of Summerville, Ga., fell asleep behind the wheel of the Nissan while traveling west on State 20 and drifted into the path of the bus which was traveling east on State 20, officials said. Brown took evasive action to avoid a head-on collision with the Nissan but the Nissan clipped the bus in the left rear section, investigators said in a news release.

"She did an outstanding job," said Ken Phillips, the director of transportation for the district. However, district regulations require that Brown be assigned to desk duty until an investigation into the incident is completed, Phillips added. She will also have to complete a drug screen, said Superintendent Bill Husfelt.

"There is no reason to believe the bus driver did anything wrong," Husfelt said.

McGuire and her passengers, Christopher Hatt, 20, and Carma McGuire, 2, both of Summerville, Ga., were not injured in the accident. McGuire was charged with failure to maintain a single lane, troopers said in a news release.