Concord, N.C : Woman dead after a fatal crash involving a school bus in Cabarrus County on Wednesday morning, September 21, 2016

A woman is dead after a fatal crash involving a school bus this morning.

Olivia Dawn Chapa-Baltimore, 35, of Concord was driving a BMW SUV north on Cox Mill Road from Christenbury Parkway towards Cox Mill Road at about 8 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21. According to highway patrol, she swerved to the right and overcorrected, coming back across the roadway and crossing the center line.

The SUV struck Cabarrus County School Bus 359 traveling in the opposite direction.

“The driver died in the collision,” Trooper Barry Burnette said, adding a 13-year-old boy was also in the vehicle. “He was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.”

According to Cabarrus County Schools, the boy is a student in the district.

No students were on the bus at the time of the collision, but two adults did get hurt in the crash. Driver Barbara Jean Fink of Concord and monitor Ray Allen Hilton of Concord were taken to Carolinas Medical Center Northeast.

“Thankfully, there were just two occupants on the school bus: the driver and the monitor,” Burnette said. “They were transported, as well, with non-life threatening injuries.”

The trooper said the bus driver did everything possible to prevent a crash but was limited by the roadway.

“The school bus never left its lane,” Burnette said. “It did everything it could to avoid a collision. It happened on a bridge that crosses a creek. [The bus] went as far as it could over to the right, even grazed the railing. For the school bus, it was unavoidable.”

He said while there was no evidence of substance abuse or other infraction, law enforcement is still looking into the cause of the accident.

“At this point, it’s still under investigation,” Burnette said. “We haven’t ruled anything out. Phone is a possibility,” Burnette said. “Alcohol is always a possibility, although I don’t have anything concrete to say yes. We won’t know until we get a report from the medical examiner’s office.”

Source :
Cabarrus County school bus involved in fatal wreck