Car accidents in and around the Macon area appear to happen all the time. It seems there's a new and troubling story highlighting the details of a different accident in every newspaper and on every news broadcast. And while every car or truck accident conjures disturbing images and sparks a certain level of fear, some accidents are truly more troubling than others. Recently, an east Macon truck accident sent 20 people to the hospital, many of them students in the Bibb County school system.

A tractor-trailer driver was headed southbound on Gray Highway when he failed to stop at a red light. The driver swerved and struck a car that was also headed southbound and then began to make an attempt to regain control of the tractor trailer. During this attempt, he swerved into a school bus that was carrying a large number of students to the Hutchings Career Center following a Business Leaders of America tournament at Wesleyan College. In addition to the students, the bus carried two adults -- the driver and one additional adult passenger.

There are no details readily available about the injuries sustained during the truck accident, but the bus driver, another adult and 18 students were taken to the hospital. The truck driver and the driver of the car that was struck during the course of the day's events did not require medical attention. A news release made by the Bibb County school system reported that none of the injuries sustained in the truck accident appeared to be life-threatening.

The driver of the big rig has been charged with failure to maintain his lane, as well as failure to obey a traffic control device and driving too fast for road conditions. There is no additional information pertaining to the condition of those injured in the Macon accident.

Serious accidents like this one can be extremely frightening for those involved. Hopefully this accident and others like it will remind Georgia motorists of the dangers of negligent driving.

Source: Macon.com, "School bus crash in east Macon sends 20 to hospital," Amy Leigh Womack, Jan. 24, 2012