Parents file suit in fatal Missouri school bus accident

By Jim Greene

Published on August 18, 2005

Noah Barnes was struck by the bus moments after he left it and died a few hours later at an area hospital. The suit was filed against the Branson School District.

A Missouri Highway Patrol accident report says the boy crossed in front of the bus and blames inattention on the part of the driver for the accident, who was apparently unaware that he had run over the child with the right front tire of the bus as he pulled away from the curb. He continued on his route.

Other children noticed the victim on the ground and called for help. The boy was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, then airlifted to a Springfield hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

The lawsuit alleges the driver was negligent in not accounting for each child who left the bus before he pulled away from the curb, and in not requiring the children to cross the street far enough from the bus to be seen by the driver.

The suit asks for compensation for past and future suffering inflicted upon both the boy and his parents, and for medical, burial, and other costs incurred.

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