Brittany Ann Moore

While talking to a friend yesterday she told me there had been and Accident in her town involving a school bus! As she start to share details of the accident one person dead and kids still on the bus! Floods of emotions came rushing back in to my head! See for many of you who do not Know the Name Brittany Ann Moore. Let me share something I don't share in hopes that when you see a school bus with it light flashing and arms out you stop and thing before you think do I really have to STOP!
It all started about Jan. I was a Sub bus Driver and had taken a bus run on one of the worst routes in our town not because of the kids but because the bus stop fall on Highway 27 and it Four lanes of traffic and truckers don't like to Stop because a school bus has to let kids off on the side of the road. The regular driver had gotten really sick and was unable to drive so I became the temporarily drive and everyday for 3 months I had done my job with out fail and love the kids on the bus like that was my Run! Most of what I am going to tell you from her I can remember but I do have some black out moments that I have had to rely on family and friends to tell me!
I start my afternoon run like always stopping at every school picking up my kids K-12! Brittany was one of my Kindergartners I had only a few that had to be dropped on the Highway side 3 total kinder that rode that day I only had 2! we head out past the railroad tracks and I made my first stop no problem kids where safely delivered to there homes and safe from traffic. Then I had a side road I had to off one of the safer stops on my run no traffic those kids where delivered safely home. I got to the stop sign to pull back on the 27 and I thought wow the truckers aren't to bad to say maybe I wont have one blow my stop arm as I get ready to let the next stop off. I had turn to the girls like I did every time reminding them stay seated till I start to open my door and then get in your drive way as fast as you can No Playing around they where cousin that where more like sisters on Kinder and the other 7th grade. As I pull on to 27 I turn on lights so the cars and truckers can see I am going to be making a stop!( the next few thing happen so fast it sound like they where controllable but weren't) I come to my stop pull my parking break and then my stop arm Starting to open the door and a trucker blows my arm on the left side of the bus so I don't open door but Brittany had already made it to the bottom step and one foot on the ground. On of the boys left on the bus who stop was still 2 stops away said "Miss Haney there is another one and he is on this side meaning the right side. So I had a truck and me fight over a little girl in my doors no matter how hard I tried to keep her in my doors she was sucked out and killed. I guess I could say I watched her go be with Jesus cause before the tail end of the truck hit her she was gone I saw her spirit leave her body! SO in all of this not only was I fight to keep Brittany alive I was fighting to keep her Cousin from going out the door with her! This is the part where I remember but it like in slow motion! I open the door get on the radio and call for help I get off bus and to straight to Brittany and Check for a pulse I have her cousin, Aunt and Uncle all flipping out and now to add to it all I also have the driver of the truck and 5 other kids who all just watched this happen! No one of these kids where more then 7th grade. So between freaking out inside and trying to keep all my kids from freaking out I had to be strong! A fellow bus driving friends who had finish her day and was heading home was only 5 cars behind the truck that killed her and she saw it all too! So she is one of the people I get my facts from and then while I was dealing with all stuff that just had happened my family was being painted a different story!" Someone walk up to my sister who was pregnant at the time ! And told her I had just hit a kids with the school bus and killed her" so my sister freaked out and was one of the first family to get to me! I think the longer they made all of us sit there and look at her just laying there! CAUSE it was a crime scene! I start blacking out! most of my memories start again as they loaded me in a cop car a took me to the hospital cause I had to take a drug test to make sure I did not have drugs in my systems! After that I don't remember for days I do remember her funeral and I remember having to face a lawyer and high way patrol to tell them my side of what happen! I was Catatonic for about a weeks and the nightmares did not stop till about 5 years ago! I did finish the year out driving but that was the last time I stepped on a bus! I still have problems with schools buses and driving down that part of H-27 and I every year this time of year I play the blame and what could I have done different Game. Even thought I know I could have done nothing different! This Year March 3 2010 is 10 years !