State troopers say a 37-year-old woman was high on drugs when she slammed a minivan into the back of a stopped school bus early Friday morning on U.S. Highway 82, resulting in 13 students being checked for minor injuries at the hospital in Brunswick.
Michelle O’Connor was charged with DUI/drugs, following too close and driving without a license as a result of the crash, which occurred at around 7:30 a.m. on U.S. 82 near Galilee Road west of Interstate 95, said Georgia State Patrol trooper Steven McKinney. O’Connor was taken by county ambulance to Southeast Georgia Heath System’s Brunswick hospital for injuries that appeared related to air bag deployment, McKinney said.
She was admitted to the hospital Friday and had not been booked into the Glynn County Detention Center as of Saturday.
The school bus was carrying 16 passengers, mostly Glynn Academy high school students, according to McKinney and county schools police chief Rod Ellis. Some of the students onboard attended Glynn Middle School, Ellis said.
Two students were transported to the Southeast Georgia Health System hospital by ambulance; 11 others were taken via another school bus, Ellis said. The students’ injuries were mostly complaints of muscle soreness and neck pain, Ellis said.
McKinney said the bus had stopped on U.S. 82 to pick up a student. After the girl stepped onto the bus, the bus driver was just beginning to move again when O’Connor allegedly smashed into the back of the bus in a 2020 silver Dodge Caravan, McKinney said.
The vehicle’s speedometer indicated O’Connor was traveling at 64 mph upon impact, McKinney said. The Caravan was totaled.
The school bus had to be towed from the scene.
GSP troopers were able to view the crash on video obtained from a nearby residence’s security surveillance camera, McKinney said.
“The bus stopped, and the girl is getting on, the bus (stop) signs are down,” McKinney said. “And as the bus starts to pull off, she runs right into the back of them as they are pulling away.”
