LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — A charter bus driver charged with driving
under the influence and wanton endangerment was driving so erratically
that some Kentucky high school students aboard called their parents and
an adult chaperone insisted she pull over, the school's principal said
Monday.
Holly M. Brown, of Louisville, was arrested by Kentucky State Police on Sunday at a convenience store/restaurant off the Bluegrass Parkway in Washington County, about two and a half hours from the group's destination in Elliott County in eastern Kentucky.
Brown, 46, drove the 41 students and nine adults for about an hour until she pulled off the parkway, Elliott County High School Principal Zachary Mayse said in a phone interview. The group was headed home from a conference in New Orleans.
The bus at times was speeding and swerving, he said, and Brown's driving was so erratic that other motorists had honked at her.
"The farther they drove, the worse the driving got," said Mayse, who was not aboard but had talked with school staff members who recounted what happened. "It was pretty bad. This got to them pretty bad."
One teacher asked Brown to slow down, and another staff member later told the driver to pull off at the next exit, the principal said. The driver complied, and the group refused to get back on the bus with Brown and called the bus owner, he said.
Some students were so upset that they called their parents, said state police Trooper Billy Gregory. One parent then called a DUI hotline and contacted state police, he said. The driver and bus were found later.
During her initial court appearance Monday, Brown pleaded not guilty to second-degree wanton endangerment, operating a motor vehicle under the influence and failure to have a prescribed controlled substance in a proper container, said Washington County Circuit Court Clerk JoAnne Mudd-Miller. Authorities found medications but will have to await lab results to identify them, Gregory said.
Court documents did not yet list an attorney for Brown, who is being held in the Marion County Jail. A pretrial hearing was set for Dec. 22.
Brown was operating a bus owned by Miller Transportation, which said it is cooperating with investigators and apologized to the passengers.
In a statement, the company described Brown as a relief driver who had taken over on the final portion of the trip.
The company called safety its "highest priority," and said it has a program to randomly test its drivers for any presence of drugs or alcohol.
"As soon as we learned the motor coach was stopped and the driver detained, we immediately sent our director of safety to the scene to take the passengers to their destination and get them home safely," the company said.
It took about three hours to get the bus back on the road, it said.
Brown also has been a bus driver for Jefferson County Public Schools, said Ben Jackey, a spokesman for the Louisville school district.
No decision has been made on whether to conduct a compliance review of Miller Transportation after what happened, said Duane DeBruyne, a spokesman for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
A review of the company's safety record showed it has a satisfactory rating — the top one possible — from the federal agency.
The school group arrived home to Elliott County about 7 p.m. EST Sunday, Mayse said. The high school principal said he has asked that the school be reimbursed by the bus company.
He praised his staff for telling the bus driver to pull over and for the group's refusal to get back on board.
"I'm just thankful that they got off that bus," he said.
Holly M. Brown, of Louisville, was arrested by Kentucky State Police on Sunday at a convenience store/restaurant off the Bluegrass Parkway in Washington County, about two and a half hours from the group's destination in Elliott County in eastern Kentucky.
Brown, 46, drove the 41 students and nine adults for about an hour until she pulled off the parkway, Elliott County High School Principal Zachary Mayse said in a phone interview. The group was headed home from a conference in New Orleans.
The bus at times was speeding and swerving, he said, and Brown's driving was so erratic that other motorists had honked at her.
"The farther they drove, the worse the driving got," said Mayse, who was not aboard but had talked with school staff members who recounted what happened. "It was pretty bad. This got to them pretty bad."
One teacher asked Brown to slow down, and another staff member later told the driver to pull off at the next exit, the principal said. The driver complied, and the group refused to get back on the bus with Brown and called the bus owner, he said.
Some students were so upset that they called their parents, said state police Trooper Billy Gregory. One parent then called a DUI hotline and contacted state police, he said. The driver and bus were found later.
During her initial court appearance Monday, Brown pleaded not guilty to second-degree wanton endangerment, operating a motor vehicle under the influence and failure to have a prescribed controlled substance in a proper container, said Washington County Circuit Court Clerk JoAnne Mudd-Miller. Authorities found medications but will have to await lab results to identify them, Gregory said.
Court documents did not yet list an attorney for Brown, who is being held in the Marion County Jail. A pretrial hearing was set for Dec. 22.
Brown was operating a bus owned by Miller Transportation, which said it is cooperating with investigators and apologized to the passengers.
In a statement, the company described Brown as a relief driver who had taken over on the final portion of the trip.
The company called safety its "highest priority," and said it has a program to randomly test its drivers for any presence of drugs or alcohol.
"As soon as we learned the motor coach was stopped and the driver detained, we immediately sent our director of safety to the scene to take the passengers to their destination and get them home safely," the company said.
It took about three hours to get the bus back on the road, it said.
Brown also has been a bus driver for Jefferson County Public Schools, said Ben Jackey, a spokesman for the Louisville school district.
No decision has been made on whether to conduct a compliance review of Miller Transportation after what happened, said Duane DeBruyne, a spokesman for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
A review of the company's safety record showed it has a satisfactory rating — the top one possible — from the federal agency.
The school group arrived home to Elliott County about 7 p.m. EST Sunday, Mayse said. The high school principal said he has asked that the school be reimbursed by the bus company.
He praised his staff for telling the bus driver to pull over and for the group's refusal to get back on board.
"I'm just thankful that they got off that bus," he said.
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