First Student, Highland school district sued over rear-end accident with tractor trailer

A minor suffered pain and discomfort after a school bus rear-ended a tractor trailer, according to a recently filed complaint.

Jessica Davis filed suit May 9 in the Madison County Circuit Court against First Student Inc., Henry Edwin Jaeger and Highland School District 5.

According to the compleint, Davis was riding on a school bus operated by defendant Jaeger, who was driving a 2007 IC Corporation school bus for defendant First Student, on May 14, 2012. Jaeger was driving south on Interstate 55 in Montgomery County when he rear-ended a 2006 Freightliner Coronado 132, which had slowed in southbound traffic, according to the complaint.

Due to the collision, Davis suffered pain and discomfort, sustained serious and permanent injuries to her right leg, right hand, wrist, eye and nose and lost her strength and range of motion, the suit states. She also suffered from a diminished ability to ambulate, lost her ability to enjoy her ordinary pursuits of life and faces a diminished earning capacity, the complaint says.

Davis blames Jaeger for causing the collision, saying he failed to keep a careful lookout, failed to keep the school bus under control, drove too fast, failed to yield the right-of-way, drove in a reckless manner, allowed the school bus to collide with the tractor trailer, failed to stop in adequate time to avoid a collision, failed to provide adequate and proper training and allowed the front of the bus to collide with the back of the tractor trailer.

Davis is seeking a judgment of more than $50,000, plus costs, pre- and post-judgment interest and other relief the court deems just. She is being represented in the case by Thomas K. Neil of Gray, Ritter and Graham in St. Louis.

Madison County Circuit Court case number 14-L-688.