The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has ordered a school bus driver out of service for crashing with students on board earlier this month.
On March 13, 2024, West Virginia-licensed commercial driver Jeffrey Brannon was ordered to cease operations of any commercial motor vehicle (CMV) in interstate or intrastate commerce.
The FMCSA’s Imminent Hazard Out-of-Service Order states that Brannon’s “blatant violations of the FMCSRs and disregard for the safety of your school-age passengers and other highway users demonstrated by these actions substantially increases the likelihood of serious injury or death to you and the motoring public.”
The order was issued in response to a crash that occurred on March 4, 2024, in Calhoun County, West Virginia.
Brannon was transporting nineteen students from school to their homes when he “lost control of the bus off the right edge of the roadway and overcorrected, causing the bus to roll over on its side in the middle of the highway,” officials say.
Three students were hospitalized with serious injuries.
The FMCSA states that surveillance video shows Brannon driving the bus erratically and swerving on the two lane South Calhoun Highway.
Substance use testing post-crash showed Brannon had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.127%.
The FMCSA points out that federal regulations forbid using alcohol within four hours of driving a CMV or operating a CMV with a blood alcohol concentration of .04 or greater.
Brannon has been charged with one count of driving under the influence of alcohol, controlled substances and three counts of child neglect resulting in injury; child neglect creating risk of injury, according to the FMCSA.
In addition to the out of service order, Brannon will be listed as prohibited in FMCSA’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. The FMCSA is working with West Virginia officials to disqualify his CDL.
WCHSTV reports that Brannon has been fired from his bus driving job by Calhoun County School officials.