A bus driver for the nation’s capital elementary school has been charged with driving while intoxicated after his bus veered into a ditch on the way back from a field trip to a farm in northern Virginia.
According to Fairfax County Police, nine children were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
The bus was returning 44 children and four adults to Murch Elementary School in Washington, D.C., on Thursday after a field trip to Cox Farms in Centreville, Virginia, a popular field trip destination in the region.
According to police, the bus hit a rock and veered into a ditch off a road in northern Virginia.
The 48-year-old Suitland, Maryland, the driver was charged after failing a field sobriety test and having a blood-alcohol content of.20, more than double the legal limit of.08.
According to police, the driver’s license had already been revoked in Virginia due to a previous drunken driving conviction.
Officers also reported finding a total of 18 safety violations on the two buses transporting children to the field trip, as well as the fact that none of the operators was properly licensed to operate a school bus.
In a statement, D.C. Public Schools stated that it intends to conduct a review of the transportation vendors it uses for field trips and other extracurricular activities.
