Davis Law Group, P.S.

School Bus Driver Falls Alseep, Teenage Boy Saves the Day

A school bus driver fell asleep and a smart teenager stepped in and saved dozens of young lives. The 17-year-old boy who attends Mount Tahoma High School noticed the bus driver closing his eyes while driving down the roads with all of the kids on board.

I was looking at him and his eyes would close, and when we'd get to a turn, he'd look both ways, start driving again, and they would close more and more," he said.

The driver began swerving on city roads, seeming very inattentive. Once the bus drove onto Interstate 5, he had lost consciousness.

"And as soon as I see his head go down, and I see the bus go back to the freeway, I hop up, get to the front of the bus as fast as I can," he said.

William woke the 65-year-old driver up and prevented the bus from driving off the freeway. The school bus driver had a perfect driving record during his eight years with Durham School Services.

"Certainly safety is very important to us and to the families involved, and we want to get to the bottom of it and make sure nothing like this happens again," said Dan Voelpel of Tacoma Public Schools. "It's unusual. It's not something we've dealt with before."

It is still undetermined what caused the driver to have fallen asleep. It may have been a health condition or medicine he was taking. The driver is currently on administrative leave.