I'm not surprised by this. This same bus co. transported my granddaughter and her softball team to Riverside NJ and the driver on that bus was texting and talking on the phone while driving. I believe that Rick Bus Co. bus drivers are careless and distracted. My granddaugher was concerned for her life on her bus ride. I believe the school needs to dispense with using Rick Bus Co. Lately, there are too, too many bus accidents in the news. There needs to be stronger enforcement of bus drivers violations and better testing of the drivers before they can be entrusted with our children's lives. I'm glad that all are okay. My granddaughter and I must have been right in front of that bus on Valley Road. There was another bus in front of us that was speeding on Valley Road. I even brought it to my granddaugther's attention. I believe the state should test all drivers and investigate their driving records. You're looking at an unsafe driver transporting a whole busload of our children. Something needs to be done.

So many of these accidents occur in transit to activities other than transport to and from school. Maybe some of those activities should be curtailed. The traffic gets heavier and heavier and more distracted, aggressive, and intoxicated drivers are on the road than ever before.

The accident occurred at 3:20 in the afternoon, normal time for transport from school. Not sure how many intoxicated drivers there were on the road at that time. Although these kids weren't being transported home, would it have been better to have each of their parents drive them individually to the game, thus that many more cars on the road? Or have them walk with all those distracted, aggressive and intoxicated drivers out there? I think the root of the problem may be with the screening process of the bus company and their drivers - this is the second accident I know of with this company transporting JW students within the past 2 school years, and nothing is done to the drivers. If the company doesn't do something, then Princeton Schools transportation needs to do something.

Except the child who was killed in chesterfield was on a bus by a different company. I think it all boils down to more drivers being aggressive in general, including but not limited to school bus drivers. Also way too much traffic on our roads these days

In the interest of full disclosure I should mention that I work for this company as a bus driver and have been there for 16 years and I do know the driver involved as well as the kids on the bus

Why are 7th and 8th grade boys being bused to a field that they could walk to quicker? This route is most likely shorter than many of their walks to their homes. What a waste of money. Glad there are no serious injuries to anyone. Really scary for all involved.

i agree rick bus should be more like first student and have a no cell phone policy in tact i see them drivers on the phone all the time then when you call the company to report unsafe things they are doing they dont care they do nothing

Just a reminder that an investigation continues into yesterday's accident in Princeton and no charges have been filed, so we don't know if anything untoward was involved.

In case you are wondering, yes I am a dedicated and loyal employee of this company. Have I had a few accidents in the past 5 years? Yes. Were any of them my fault? no. Was the other driver in those accidents faulted for trying to overtake or unsafely pass me? yes. Do the parents of my students request me to return every year instead of accepting another route? Yes! Not all Rick drivers are unsafe bumbling idiots, and neither is Christine. I have worked with her on many occasions, and she is a safe driver, a loving mother, and a GREAT WOMAN! So don't judge her or the entire company because of one accident, and don't judge an entire workforce just because you nearly got flattened when trying to aggressively pass a school bus that takes 15 seconds longer than your fancy shiny expensive car to reach the speed limit. SLOW DOWN and give school buses a break, AND the right of way. I bet there will be less accidents involving them if you spared less than a minute of your shallow, empty lives!!!!

What Duke says is true. First Student has a terrible record! I have driven for Rick for 16 years and the company is over 40 years old and we have NEVER had a fatality nor even a serious injury. Not making excuses for this particular accident as I don't have all the facts yet but just pointing out what I know to be true. First student has had 626 accidents in the last 24 months with 288 injuries and 7 fatalities. Rick has had 16 accidents with 7 injuries and no fatalities. Look it up on the federal motor carrier website.

Also agree with Duke about Chris. She's a very good driver, i do many trips with her and have never seen her be unsafe. Accidents can happen to anyone. School bus drivers are human like anyone else and all we can do is do our best to be safe. But accidents can and do happen

Hey Duke, if this woman was such a good driver, how is it the her bus left the road, and hit a tree? From what I understand, she was on the radio cause she didn't know how to get where she was going. She only traveled, what, six blocks? Lack of attention to the one thing she should have been doing, paying attention to the road, and getting students from one place to another, safely.
I have personally emailed Ron Rick several times over the past few years about some of your fellow drivers. They are not as pristine as you make them out to be.

It tells me that's it amazing how all the other buses that use that road regularly, have missed that tree, and only now it decided to take out that one bus. Other drivers were just lucky? Nope! And it was word of mouth. not assumed. See, I knew one of the people there that were pictured at the scene. They spoke with the driver, who happened to tell exactly what I said. How's that cake, Duke? Photo's show tires in the dirt, no pavement under them, maybe you should get your facts straight next time.

"The school bus driver involved in Tuesday's accident on Valley Road has been issued a careless driving summons by Princeton Township Police." "Christine Walker, 43, of Hamilton, was driving the bus that veered off the road and crashed into a large tree, police said." Veered off the road. Enough said!

I'm not trying to make excuses for this accident at all but I think it's important to remember that school bus drivers are human beings also and as such we are not infallible and neither are any of you. Accidents are called accidents for a reason it's not an on purpose but an accident. I agree that this was probably an avoidable accident and it's a very lucky thing no one was seriously injured. However I do not think this makes Rick bus comp or school bus drivers or even Chris a bad driver. As I mentioned b4 I have done many trips with her(2 just last week) and she is not one of the inexperienced, crazy drivers people are assuming she is. She doesn't speed, she makes her kids buckle up on the bus, she turns her phone off while driving and puts it in her bag.... Its unfortunate that this accident happened and I'm quite sure Chris feels terrible about it as well. I think its sad that people can judge a person this way without even knowing anything about them. I'd like to see your driving record or be a fly on the wall while you are driving. I'll bet many of you are guilty of talking on the cell phone or cutting someone off or being distracted, most people do those things on a daily basis. They have just been lucky so far but it can happen to anyone, even you.

Susan you are talking about ONE bad driver. Our company employs about 300 drivers and there are of course always going to be one or two bad apples in the bunch. I'm very sorry you got the short end of the stick with your driver, however I would say the odds are against getting one of those bad apples as 98 percent of our drivers are friendly, professional, and safe.