A major incident near Bronson Florida

Came across this one, in which a total of 7 were killed, most of them students who were riding in a handicapped bus.  The driver of the flat bed truck was charged with several counts of vehicular homicide.

BRONSON — The driver of a truck that struck a school bus carrying handicapped children in August was charged Tuesday with causing the deaths of the bus driver and five students by speeding through a stop sign.

Scott Lou Allen, 26, of Bushnell, was arrested at his Sumter County home and charged with six felony counts of vehicular homicide in connection with the Aug. 28 accident, said Levy County State Attorney Gene Whitworth Sr.

Allen was taken to the Sumter County Jail, where he was expected to be held overnight. Bail was set at $20,000 by Levy Circuit Judge Elzie Sanders, said Sumter County sheriff's Capt. Jim Fussell.

The charges were filed Tuesday after a two-month Florida Highway Patrol investigation. In a 104-page report to the state attorney's office, investigators say Allen was driving between 40 mph and 45 mph in a 35 mph zone and that he failed to reduce his speed at a stop sign, Whitworth said.

''The facts we relied on in this case indicate that Mr. Allen had the capability of seeing that stop sign four-tenths of a mile before he came to it,'' Whitworth said. ''There was no decrease of his speed as he entered the intersection and no braking or attempted braking until after the accident.''

The stop sign was posted at the intersection of County Roads 337 and 32 in this North Florida town 25 miles southwest of Gainesville. Many of Bronson's 700 residents are constantly reminded of the tragedy when they pass through the intersection.

''I go by there every day,'' said Paul Johnson, assistant superintendent of the Levy County School District. ''The residents have put commemorative crosses up, six of them, one for each person who was killed, and there are flowers permanently placed by the side of the road.''

Several of the mentally and physically handicapped students, ages 4 to 18, who were injured in the accident have not returned to Bronson Elementary School and Williston Middle School.

On the afternoon of Aug. 28, bus driver Edith Mae Asbell, 59, of Chiefland, was driving 19 students home from the two schools when the 47-seat bus was struck broadside by a flatbed truck driven by Allen, said Florida Highway Patrol Trooper John Touchton, who investigated the accident with Trooper Ted Glass.

The accident left Asbell and five students dead and 17 people injured, including Allen.

Allen's first court appearance is scheduled for 9 a.m. today in Sumter County. He will be transferred to Levy County if he does not post bond.

CHIEFLAND — Dozens of school bus drivers from Levy and surrounding counties turned out for driver Edith Asbell's funeral Sunday, with some predicting that few students would ride buses today after a terrifying crash Friday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Levy County school officials were huddling with crisis workers in preparation for this morning's classes, the first since Asbell and five handicapped children were killed when a flatbed truck ran a stop sign and hit the bus broadside.

Another 16 mentally handicapped youngsters from Williston Middle and Bronson Elementary schools were injured, along with Tampa truck driver Scott Allen, 25, in good condition with a broken leg at Alachua General Hospital.

Crisis workers told school principals that some students and teachers may need help dealing with the tragedy.

''The expectation is that a lot of kids will be brought to school tomorrow; they won't ride the buses,'' said Connie Hartsock of the Alachua County Crisis Center.

Earlier Sunday afternoon, a stream of people drove to the intersection of county roads 32 and 337, where the crash occurred. There, on a utility pole at the northwest corner of the intersection, were a dozen posters made of colored construction paper.

They bore messages like ''God bless'' and ''Love one another'' and ''God loves.''

JoAnn Tisdale, 54, said her Sunday school class of 7-year-olds at First Baptist Church of Bronson wanted to make the posters as a memorial.

Although none of the dead children were in the Sunday school class, Tisdale said ''that's all they could talk about this morning, the children and their parents.

''They didn't seem interested in learning their lesson. One of the little girls asked if we could have a special prayer for them.''

Kay Berezansky, 63, of Bronson, brought a purple potted flower to the crash site, placing it on a dirt bank beside a bouquet and a bunch of yellow flowers.

Later in the day, six American flags were planted along the side of the road where the wreckage came to rest. The bank where the bodies of the dead children were placed still was strewn with broken glass, its grass withered and scarred.

''Those little children used to wave at me,'' Berezansky said, recalling her days as a crossing guard at Bronson Elementary School.

At the Hardeetown Baptist Church in Chiefland, hundreds of people packed into the sanctuary for Asbell's funeral.

The Rev. Walter Cooley told family and friends that God had an appointment with Asbell, and that day was Friday.

''None of this that happened was a surprise to the Lord,'' he said.

Asbell, buried at Chiefland Cemetary, was described by family and fellow bus drivers as a cautious driver who loved the mentally and physically disabled children who rode her bus twice a day.