Bus driver awaits answer on avoiding trial in train collision

BENTON, TENNESSEE - A former Georgia school bus driver whose bus collided with a train in Tennessee, killing three students, is awaiting a decision on whether she might avoid a trial on criminal charges. <br> <br> Polk County Assistant District Attorney Sandra Donaghy said today her decision on former driver Rhonda Cloer&#39;s application for a pretrial diversion program would be made public Monday. <br> <br> A hearing on the case was set at 9 a.m. Monday. <br> <br> Rhonda Cloer faces 19 criminal charges, including three counts of vehicular homicide, from the collision between the Murray County, Georgia, school bus she was driving and a CSX train on March 28, 2000. <br> <br> Two other students were seriously hurt. <br> <br> Cloer&#39;s attorney, Conrad Finnell, could not be reached for comment. <br> <br> The freight train smashed into the bus at 50 miles an hour as the bus drove through an unsignaled crossing near Tennga, Georgia. <br> <br> If Donaghy approves the application for pretrial diversion and the judge agrees, Cloer would be placed on probation for two years. The 19 criminal charges could be dismissed if she successfully completes the terms of probation. <br> <br> If Donaghy denies the application, the decision can be appealed to District Attorney Jerry Estes and then to the courts. <br> <br> At least five federal lawsuits have been filed in Chattanooga on behalf of relatives of victims and injured students. <br> <br> A National Transportation Safety Board report said Cloer&#39;s failure to stop the school bus prior to crossing the railroad tracks likely caused the collision and that the school system was lax in bus safety.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/1/199685