When we put our kids on the school bus, we put their lives in the hands of strangers. It's unnerving, but we're comforted by the fact these are trained professionals. We never expect anything like this to happen.
A normal busride took a terrifying turn in the Alfred-Almond school district in Allegany County.
Surveillance footage shows the students terribly frightened and freaking out, pointing their attention to the front of the bus. One student can be heard screaming, "Put on the brake!" Why?
…The bus driver was drunk.
55-year-old Martha Thompson had a blood alcohol content of .15. At the time, she thought the children were overreacting.
In the video, you can hear Thompson say, "Will you guys stop?" To which a student replies, "Well, you're not okay and I know it." After which the bus sped up, ran over a mailbox, and started rolling backwards downhill.
Then, a student shouts, "Turn the bus off! …You're making the little kids cry…Stop!"
Finally, the children opened the emergency door in the back of the bus to get out, despite Thompson pleading against it.
Thankfully, no one was injured. Thompson plead guilty to 37 counts of child endangerment and driving while intoxicated.
Horrifying to say the least, but something everyone should see. Drunk driving remains an epidemic, and it simply cannot happen behind the wheel, let alone the wheel of a school bus carrying children. Please SHARE this video with your friends on Facebook.
