A medical emergency caused the bus crash north of Lac La Hache last June which injured dozens and resulted in the death of one pedestrian.
The B.C. Highway Patrol shared this and other details in a press conference at the 100 Mile House RCMP detachment on Friday, Nov. 22. RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Michael McLaughlin of the B.C. Highway patrol said that after a five-month investigation with over 20 investigators working the case, the RCMP is confident no criminality played a role in the June 21 incident.
"BC Highway Patrol wrote search warrants, reviewed in-car computers and video evidence, took witness statements and carefully examined the scene," McLaughlin said. "The evidence shows that the driver of the school bus was subject to a medical event and there was no criminality associated to this tragic collision."
The bus crash occurred on Friday, June 21 just north of Lac La Hache when the school bus went off Highway 97 and slid down an embankment near Butler Road, while returning from a field trip to Gavin Lake Forest Education Society. Exactly 31 Grade 7 students from 100 Mile Elementary School and Horse Lake Elementary School were on board at the time along with four adults. Several of the children received injuries in the crash, including broken bones, though thankfully none received life-threatening injuries.
McLaughlin noted that the 60-year-old driver of the school bus, an unnamed Cariboo woman, is still recovering from her own serious injuries. She will not be charged with any offences.
"We can't go into specifics other than this was not a foreseeable medical emergency and it was so sudden and incapacitating. The driver couldn't operate the bus and that's the main reason behind the crash."
When asked how the school bus crashed upright rather than rolling down the embankment, McLaughlin said the RCMP determined it went over the side of the road completely uncontrolled. Whether it was luck or good design that kept the school bus upright he doesn't know, but he remarked RCMP are thankful it did.
"We're very grateful none of those children were killed," McLaughlin said.
Shortly after the bus crash occurred a Cariboo man in his seventies crossed the highway to assist the bus when he was struck and killed by an oncoming SUV. McLaughlin said to investigate this aspect of the collision RCMP talked to more witnesses and brought in collision analysts to inspect the scene. This too RCMP determined to be a tragic accident, with McLaughlin explaining the driver of the SUV could not see the scene of the crash due to a bend in Highway 97.
"There were no signs of impairment, carelessness, or distractions from the driver of the SUV and the vehicle was going below the speed limit," McLaughlin said. "The SUV driver could not see the aftermath of the bus collision due to a bend in the highway and the driver's last-second efforts to evade the pedestrian did not work."
McLaughlin confirmed RCMP are keeping the name of the man private out of respect for his family and to preserve their privacy.
Highway 97 was closed for several hours as members of the Lac La Hache Volunteer Fire Department, 100 Mile Fire Rescue, 100 Mile House RCMP and B.C. Ambulance services responded to the scene and offered aid to the students.
McLaughlin said the officers assigned to this case wanted to meet the "gold standard" when finding the truth. He noted that school bus crashes like this are rare in B.C., so they wanted to make sure they got it right.
Prior to speaking to the media, McLaughlin shared B.C. Highway Patrol's finding with the family and students impacted by the crash on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 100 Mile Elementary School. He said that was an emotional and intense meeting, noting there are still a lot of strong feelings within the South Cariboo relating to the crash.
"A lot of these kids are still recovering from their injuries, a lot of them are still very reluctant to use or get on school busses. We heard from parents loud and clear they wanted as much communication as possible and to be reassured that their kids are safe using the school busses," McLaughlin said. "We have tried very hard to maintain constant communication simply because this is an extremely rare event in this province and it required a bespoke solution. Let's be honest, (the crash) touched just about everyone in this community. You either knew someone who was there, or knew someone who knew someone who was there."
Going forward McLaughlin said RCMP will work with the community to ensure an incident like this will never happen again. He noted that community solutions will also be required, noting that students are still dealing with physical and mental trauma from the crash.
"Strong emotions make sense after this but when it comes to the police we evaluate the evidence and follow privacy law and the dictates of the criminal code. We are satisfied there is no criminality here and as we go forward we just have to realize that as a community any solution to prevent this needs to be community centred and we as the Police want to be part of that."
