INDIANAPOLIS — A downed stop sign leads to an Indianapolis Public Schools bus crash that sent eight people, including five students, to the hospital.
The crash happened just after 7 a.m. at E. 25th Street and N. Dearborn Street on the city’s near northeast side.
Police believe the bus driver was driving south on Dearborn and collided with a car on 25th street, then careened off the road and smashed into a fence.
Police claim the bus driver failed to stop because the stop sign had fallen down and was lying on the ground next to an adjacent building.
“DPW has no way of knowing that a sign is missing until we hear about it. So don’t assume that if a sign has been down for a day or two, that is has been called in,” said Ben Easley.
It’s not clear how long the stop sign had been down or what caused it to be knocked over, but Ben Easley with the Department of Public Works claims the city had not been alerted to the missing sign before the crash.
“There’s no way for DPW to know unless people alert us to it. So please be our eyes and ears,” said Easley.
While a temporary sign was quickly replaced by a permanent one, just like they would with any public safety issue, Easley encourages the public if they see something, say something.
“We know neighbors know their neighborhood better than anyone else, so they need to be our eyes and ears to make sure we know about issues,” said Easley.
Five students and two adults, the driver and a monitor, were on the bus at the time.
They were checked out at the scene and had no apparent injuries, but were transported to the hospital “out of an abundance of caution,” according to IPS. IMPD said there were complaints of pain and soreness.
All are expected to be okay.
