Nine students and a bus driver were transported to area hospitals Friday morning after the bus they were in crashed in Kane County. The bus drove into a drainage ditch and wound up on its side at about 8:30 a.m. near the town of Big Rock on Granart Road near Camp Dean Road, police said. The students, some from Krejci Academy in Naperville, which offers programs for children with special needs, were taken to Delnor Hospital in Geneva and Provena Mercy Medical Center in Aurora. Luckily, all of the children were wearing seat belts and only suffered minor injuries. Jeff Tragnitz said that the bus driver has repeatedly fallen asleep while driving, according to his daughter Aly Essury, who was a passenger on the bus during the crash.
Holly Van Tilburg, 18, told the Daily Herald she and other kids on the bus noticed the driver nodding off and swerving erratically. She says she and her mother both called the school to complain about the driver.
Another student aboard the bus, 17-year-old Aly Essery, told the paper she and her grandmother also made regular calls to complain.
Nine students received minor injuries in the accident. Police said it would have been much worse if they had not been wearing their seatbelts.
“Luckily it seems to be all cuts and bruises. Had they not been wearing seat belts, this probably could have been a lot worse," said Lt. Pat Gengler.
The students, some from Krejci Academy in Naperville, were taken to Delnor Hospital in Geneva and Provena Mercy Medical Center in Aurora for bumps, bruises and scratches.
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