TRUCKER FLIPS RIG TO AVOID SCHOOL BUS

EAST CAPE GIRARDEAU, Ill. -- A tractor-trailer driver swerved into a ditch and flipped the truck to avoid hitting a school bus carrying elementary and high-school students.

The accident occurred at about 7 a.m. Thursday on Highway 146 a quarter of a mile east of the Purple Crackle, authorities said. The school bus was not hit and no children were injured.

The tractor-trailer driver, David T. Keller, 24, of Scott City suffered superficial injuries and was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital where he was treated and released.

Keller was transporting a load of plywood to Lone Oak, Ky., from Cape Girardeau when the accident took place. He is an employee of the Georgia Pacific Corp., a Bridgeton-based trucking company.

J.L. Sutton, town marshal of East Cape Girardeau and Thebes, was monitoring traffic when the accident occurred and saw it happen.

Sutton said the school bus, carrying students from the Shawnee School District, pulled from a parking lot eastbound onto Highway 146, traveled several feet and stopped on the highway to make a turn into a trailer park to pick up more children. The rig was traveling behind the bus, he said.

The tractor-trailer was not speeding, he said, adding that he had clocked the vehicle at 41 mph in a 45 mph zone.

Keller said that his brakes went out and he couldn't stop the rig.

"I had to swerve to miss the bus," Keller said. "I couldn't tell if there were any children on the bus or not; I just wanted to miss it in case there were."

Sutton said bright early-morning sunlight may have hindered vision. Sutton said that in his mind it was a no-fault accident.

"It was either hit the bus with the kids in it or take the shoulder," Sutton said. "He did the smart thing."

While it was originally believed that Keller had broken his leg, he returned to the scene a couple of hours later and said he had suffered no serious injuries.

The bus contained students in kindergarten through 12th grade, said John Phillipe, transportation director for the Shawnee School District and principal of Shawnee High School.

"It's always lucky when you don't have an accident," Phillipe said.

Keller's father and brother went to the scene and both said they thought he was hero. Keller's father, Dwight, said that his son chose to risk his own life instead of the children's lives.

"Who knows what would have happened if he hadn't taken the shoulder?" Dwight Keller said. "It could have been much worse than it was."

Traffic was at a standstill for some time while three tow trucks turned the tractor-trailer back over and pulled it from the ditch.