Nine Injured in School Bus/Truck Accident on NM 236 near Portales
Portales, NM — January 25, 2023, nine people were hospitalized after a Portales school bus and a tractor-trailer collided on State Highway 236 near Portales.
Authorities say the incident happened Wednesday morning on NM 236 at Roosevelt Road T. Preliminary investigation suggests a Portales Municipal Schools bus was southbound on Roosevelt when the driver allegedly failed to yield at the highway intersection. The bus entered the crossroads and was hit by a passing 18-wheeler.
One student aboard the bus suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to a Lubbock hospital for treatment. Six other students, the 61-year-old bus driver, and the 28-year-old truck driver were transported to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
The investigation is ongoing. No further information is currently available.
The intersection in preliminary reports appears to have stop signs telling drivers on Roosevelt Road T to yield to thru-traffic on NM 236. If investigators are correct and the bus driver didn't do that, obviously it's imperative to find out specifically why not. Some explanations might involve the driver making a mistake, but others wouldn't, so until facts and evidence can say more it's best not to jump to any conclusions.
As always it's important to investigate carefully and to ensure the whole story is known. I suspect the parents of the children aboard that bus—particularly those whose little girl ended up in a Lubbock hospital—have many urgent questions about exactly what happened out there, whether it could have been prevented, and if so why it wasn't. As a father myself I know that few things trigger people's ferocity like their kids being put in danger, so I hope what authorities eventually tell them satisfies their need for answers.
