School bus driver charged with involuntary manslaughter

AMMAN — The Amman prosecutor on Wednesday charged a bus driver with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the accident on Monday that claimed the life of an 18-year-old student in Wadi Al Seer, judicial sources said.

The student was riding in the bus that was driven by the defendant when it overturned and resulted in the injury of seven other students.

The Public Security Department (PSD) put the blame on the bus driver for failing to give way to an empty tourist bus. 

Amman Prosecutor Judge Baker Quran also charged the driver with causing injury to the students and ordered that he be detained at a correctional and rehabilitation centre pending further investigation, a senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.

Quran is currently questioning witnesses in the case and will refer the file to the East Amman Court once the investigation is over, the judicial source added.

If convicted of the charges, the judicial source maintained, the defendant could receive up to three years in prison.

Following the incident, the PSD said the department has started regulatory campaigns to monitor school buses to make sure drivers abide by traffic laws in terms of licences required for vehicles and the number of passengers carried.

Under the law, the department will make sure drivers are qualified to drive school and university buses before hiring them, the statement said, in order to avoid accidents caused by reckless driving.

If a bus driver is caught violating any of the requirements to drive a vehicle, the authorities are legally justified to stop the driver from working or confiscate his driving licence.