This happened pretty close to where I live. So sad... And people are mean awfully mean and hurtful to the bus driver, although I know I would've reacted the same way. There's also a video on the website. Short article but all the information that's there at the moment.

One child is dead and many more are injured following a school bus crash in Carlisle County, Kentucky.
The Carlisle County school bus swerved to miss a deer pushed up to the road by floodwaters, overturning and landing in a large ditch. The wreck happened on U.S. 62 near Cunningham.
Two of those injured were airlifted to Cape Girardeau, with another 20 injured taken by ambulance to area hospitals.
The first and second grade students were coming back from a field trip to a sports complex. The children were part of an accelerated reader program.

Source: http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/School-bus-wreck-turns-deadly-121955894.html

This was just posted on Facebook::

Update on bus accident: KSP says that the bus left the right side of the road & traveled along the shoulder. It then returned to the road & began to spin before rolling over into an embankment. A 6-yr-old boy was pronounced dead at the scene. 16 children & an adult were taken to 3 area hospitals for injuries. The driver was air lifted to a hospital in Cape Girardeau. A chaperone was air lifted to a Memphis hospital.

Not far from where I live either. Very sad. Went to the funeral of the little boy, it was heartbreaking.

I'd have just hit the damn deer, tbh. Those poor kids :(

Like I said, I would've probably reacted the same way too. It's just instinct to swerve.

I'm not saying it's his fault for doing so. I'm just saying MY first instinct would have been 'oh I have a bus full of kids' and slammed on the brakes.

That's just how I am though, I worry about kids before I worry about anything else.

No, I don't think any blame should be pointed at the moment. I might have slammed on the brakes other than swerving if I had been driving a bus full of kids, but in my car, I swerve around anything. I just don't see how people can be so mean about something like this. If the driver survives, I'm sure he/she will be dealing with enough grief without these peoples' help. One even went as far as saying, they should've died. IMO, that ain't right.

I completely agree. It's not right to say someone should die for what was an accident. It's not like the driver made the deer come up onto the road.

This is really sad ):

My first instinct would be to slam on the breaks ONLY because that's what I do. It gives me a damn heart attack every time I see a deer in the road anyway.

And y'know, that bus driver has this on his conscious for the rest of his life. That's enough for me. He had NO intentions of hurting those kids. Or she, for that matter.

I agree with incredibl;x

i know a bus is usually pretty big, but could hitting the deer have been just as bad? i've seen cars that have hit animals before and people have still gotten injured.

I don't know how reliable my sources are but I went always told if an animal runs onto the road, it's always safer to avoid turning the steering wheel. More damage (apparently) can be done if the angle of impact is changed.

I think its horrible what happened and that people are now blaming the bus driver. Like people have said, he now has to live with that guilt, it's not like he asked for this to happen.

@Kez, we were taught that in drivers ed!

@skull: I think it just depends on the speed. I was a bus attendant for several years and I recall hitting a deer at almost exaclty 50mph and it just felt like a big bump. The deer however was literally in bits all over the road as if it exploded. So in that case is was better to just hit the animal.

They do teach to hit an animal rather than swerve but when something is in the middle of the road. I know for me personally it would be a natural reaction to swerve.
I feel for the bus driver (and the family of the child of course) because I know I felt a huge responsibility for each child on my bus. I don't think I could ever forgive myself.

i love how people say "my first instinct would be.." how the fuck do you know til it happens to you? its all in an instant?!

@Lindy - I think a lot of us have swerved to miss something in an instant, before. I know I have. I know myself, and I know that anytime I have been in a situation where something darts out, or there is something in the road, my first instinct is to swerve. It just is.

@Lindy that is a good point. I have hit a deer head on and I always thought my first instinct would be to swerve but obviously hearing about my friend die from swerving to avoid a deer, and them pounding it in my head in Drivers Ed stuck because I braked but I did not swerve. I did however total my car lol.

@Lindy - a lot of us can say that, because we live in places where this happens on a regular basis. Dogs, deer, turkey, cats.. at least one of those runs out in front of me on a daily basis. I slam on my brakes and swerve simultaneously. It's just my instinct. I even do that for rabbits and squirrels. I can't help it.

@Lauren. I do the same. I swerve for squirrels, rabbits, birds, anything. I get mad at myself for doing it afterwards though because you usually end up hitting the animal anyway & you could have hurt yourself & everyone in the car. But it's just almost like a reflex. You can't think about something like that in a split second.

I'm fairly certain my first instinct would be to scream, end up hitting the deer because I was busy screaming, then cry all the way home because I hit bambi; though I've never been in such a circumstance so I really don't know. But, like I said, I think that's what I'd do.

@ Emily I would too! lol. The first animal I ever hit was a cat and my friend, who was with me made me feel terrible about it. Saying she was going to feed her babies and whatnot. Haha. Everyone always makes fun of me for slamming on my brakes to avoid hitting even a squirrel.

@Lindy - I say that because I've done just that. I ALWAYS hit my breaks when an animal comes in the road. I live in Nebraska; there's deer, turkeys, cows, sometimes even elk. Plus high speeds + swerving = rolling. No thanks.

LOL @

Well, that's fun.

*LOL @ ♥ Me ♥ - When I first read that, I thought you meant you hit a cat AND your friend! I was like O_O WHAT! ;D

OMG! I totally read that the same way!! lol