Yale Public School Bus Tips Over With Students On Board

School officials say no students were seriously injured after a school bus overturned near Yale Tuesday morning.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says a Yale Public Schools' bus overturned at about 7:20 a.m., two miles south of Highway 51, on a county road just southeast of Yale. 

Nine students ranging in age from 7 to 15 were on board and troopers said several students suffered scrapes, bumps and bruises, but no one was seriously injured.

The OHP said the bus driver, Roy Gazaway, 80, of Yale was northbound on Underwood Road when he went left of center, over-corrected, causing the school bus to go down an embankment and hit a tree. The bus then rolled coming to rest on the driver's side. 

Troopers said Gazaway was not wearing his seat belt.

Yale school officials say there were elementary, middle school and high school students on board the bus. They said all parents were notified of the accident.

For the most part, the students were picked up by their parents and returned to school, according to the superintendent.

Superintendent Dale Bledsoe released the following statement: 

At 6:58 AM this morning, one of our route buses had an accident and rolled onto its side. A community never wants to hear this type of news. I am thankful God was watching over our nine students and the bus driver. We had no major injuries. I believe we should all say a prayer of thanks and count our blessings, because it could have been much worse. I am extremely proud of how our students handled the situation by remaining calm, calling for help and caring for the younger students and the bus driver who was slightly pinned. On all of our new buses we have a state-of-the-art camera and GPS system installed; therefore, we were able to recover detailed information and video of the accident. All of the students were in their seats and the bus was traveling at 21 mph at the time of the accident. If anyone has additional questions or concerns, please contact me at the high school.

Thank you for your prayers, 
Dale Bledsoe, Superintendent