Dane, WI — There was an accident reported early last Wednesday morning (October 7, 2015) that left two students injured and a school bus driver facing charges. Police said that Linda Sparocio, 63, was cited for running a stop sign after she caused a wreck between her school bus and a dump truck on County Road V.
The accident happened around 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning, at the intersection of County Road V and Fellows Road.
According to the news reports, Sparocio was driving a bus for the Lodi School District that morning and was headed south on Fellows Road. Allegedly, she failed to stop at the stop sign at County Road V and pulled into the path of an eastbound dump truck, which was being driven by 21-year old Dalton Ziegler.
The accident left both Sparocio and two students on her bus with injuries and all three had to be taken to a hospital. However, it doesn’t appear their injuries were severe, though the local authorities are charging Sparocio with failure to stop at a stop sign.
Map of the Accident
View from the Road
Commentary:
The issue here appears to be that this bus driver wasn’t paying attention that morning, or just chose not to obey the stop sign. Unfortunately, that reflects back on the school district that she works for, and they’d ultimately be responsible for the accident and any injuries sustained therein. Of course, as my law students will remember from their classes on lawsuits against governmental entities, school districts play by special rules when it comes to negligence-based claims. Normally, a negligent driver who causes an accident can be sued in civil court and be ordered to pay the injured’s medical bills, lost wages, etc. But when a government-owned vehicle is involved, there are usually certain restrictions in place. In Texas (I’m not sure about Wisconsin’s laws), the Texas Tort Claims Act sets limits on how much money can be recovered from a governmental entity in a lawsuit, among other things.
Grossman Law Offices
