Police say speed was a factor in bus crash

One passenger is still being treated for serious injuries.

Virginia State Police say speed was a factor in a bus crash that injured about 36 people, majority college students returning to school at the end of the holiday weekend.

Virginia State Police Senior Trooper N.M. Nash, who is investigating the crash, has charged the bus driver, Thomas B. Chidester, 58, with reckless driving, according to the police statement. He picked up the students near Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond to head back to University of Virginia, Radford University and Virginia Tech, WWBT reported.

Dozens of college students were hospitalized after an Abbott Trailways charter bus they were on overturned on the Powhite Parkway in Chesterfield County Sunday evening.

The ramp from Powhite Parkway south to Chippenham Parkway south was closed due to an overturned Abbott Trailways bus.

The 1981 TMC passenger bus was abandoned when troopers arrived on scene, she said. The bus, operated by Abbott Bus Lines of Roanoke, had 50 passengers and the driver onboard when the bus crashed about 7:15 p.m., police said.

“The support might be, ‘let my professor know I’m not going to be in class. I’m going to need to make up and exam.’ We’re looking at finals coming up”, said Tracy Vosburgh, a Virginia Tech spokesperson. A lot of them only had bruises and bumps.

Sunday night, November 29th, a motorcoach owned and operated by Abbott Trailways was involved in an accident in Richmond, Virginia.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing and the National Transportation Safety Board has been contacted.

The bus company added that it dispatched another bus to host students wishing to get to campus when it learned of the injury.