Officials in a town in West Virginia are looking to change the way GPS systems direct truck traffic after a near-miss incident damaged a school bus.
Residents in Parsons, West Virginia say that Holly Meadows Road has always been narrow and hilly, but the recent incident between a school bus and a tractor trailer trying to cross paths on the narrow road has brought the issue of truck traffic to the front of residents’ minds.
“It took paint off the bus, said it rocked the bus and I know there has been multiple incidences like he said since the first of the year where the bus couldn’t even get through because the road was blocked,” said Emily Wright, who had children on the bus at the time of the incident, to WDTV 5.
The road has posted signs indicating the narrow path is not suitable for commercial trucks, but GPS directions seem to direct the rigs through anyway, causing issues. Tucker County officials say that oftentimes, the trucks require a police escort just to make it through.
According to information from Tucker County, 27 out of 49 tractor trailer related incidents in 2022 occurred in the Holly Meadows area. However, Kevin White, Tucker County Homeland Security Director, says the issue isn’t entirely the fault of truck drivers.
“A lot of these companies demand their driver to follow the GPS and take the shortest route, so they still insist on trying to travel that. Our County Commission is working with the Department of Highways to try and get these routes removed from the GPS as a route of travel for truck traffic.”