The families of five fifth graders whose school van crashed last year in Pittsburgh are suing the bus company that employed the driver, who was drunk and continued to drive the students after fleeing the accident scene.
Their complaints allege the driver, who had a previous conviction for DUI, reported for work that afternoon intoxicated but was still permitted to go on his route.
The lawsuits, filed Wednesday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, name as defendants First Student Inc., as well as Adam G. Anderson, the administrator of the estate for the bus driver, Jeffrey Irwin, who died in July.
The lawsuits were filed by Beverly Hunger; Luke and Meghan Hillegas; Stephen Sfakis and Shawna Ramsey; Patrick and Angela Walsh; and Desiree and Andre Diven. Their children live in the Baldwin-Whitehall School District.
The lawsuits include claims for negligence and recklessness, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Conor Lamb, the attorney representing four of the families, said two of the five students got concussions in the May 30 crash.
“This is a case about how scared they were and the impact on their mental health and well being,” he said. “These parents were very afraid, and they want accountability.”
Katie Killion represents one family whose child was involved in two separate First Student crashes, including one in September 2024.
“Student safety is of the utmost importance,” she said. “It’s crucial for the public to know the negligence of First Student in driving these students.”
A spokeswoman for First Student, based in Cincinnati, said she could not comment on pending litigation.
A message left with Anderson was not immediately returned Wednesday.
Screams and panic
According to the complaints, the children were students at Provident Charter School on Pittsburgh’s North Side.
Irwin had not shown up to drive the children to school that morning, he later told the families, because his alarm didn’t go off, according to the Divens’ lawsuit.
But when Irwin arrived at the First Student bus garage that afternoon, video footage shows he was slurring his words, the lawsuit said.
“Despite the clear and overwhelming indication that decedent Irwin was intoxicated, defendant First Student permitted him to continue his shift and pick up minor children…” their lawsuit said.
Irwin picked the kids up after school around 3:30 p.m., and as he was driving across the 16th Street Bridge to take them home, he swerved into the opposite lane and crashed into another vehicle.
The other driver attempted to speak with Irwin, the lawsuit said, but he appeared to be unresponsive.
“As the driver was beginning to contact police, Irwin drove away from the scene” with the students still onboard, the lawsuits said.
According to one complaint, after Irwin drove off, one of the students called her brother, and then their mother joined the call.
The student reported that Irwin was driving erratically. While talking on speaker phone, Andre and Desiree Diven “pleaded with decedent Irwin to stop the First Student van and to pull over,” the complaint said.
The lawsuit asserts that the Divens could hear the children “screaming, panicking and crying.”
During the call, they also heard a student say “they were going to die,” the complaint said.
A family member of one of the students called police and reported that Irwin “had nearly flipped the van while on the bridge, and that the children were crying, and that he would not pull over,” according to the complaints filed by Lamb.
First Student provided police with GPS tracking information, and police stopped Irwin about 40 minutes later near the intersection of Wagner Street and Becks Run Road in Mount Oliver.
As he exited the van, the lawsuit said, Irwin had trouble standing up and admitted to having consumed alcohol that afternoon before driving the students.
His blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.330%, more than four times the legal limit for driving in Pennsylvania.
Irwin was charged with driving under the influence, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and failing to stop and render aid at a crash scene.
According to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office, Irwin, 66, of Pittsburgh died on July 18 from acute oxycodone intoxication.
Earlier trouble alleged
The lawsuit asserts that the students experienced fear for the approximate 40 minutes they were on the van that afternoon, including when Irwin refused to pull over and when he was stopped by police.
Baldwin-Whitehall continues to contract with First Student to provide transportation to Provident, the lawsuits said, and the parents of several of the students drive their children to school at their own expense to avoid having them transported by the company.
According to the lawsuit, the children had two prior drivers during that school year who also had problems, including being late, possibly using vape products while driving and driving while a child stood in the vehicle.
In one incident on Sept. 4, 2024, according to the Divens’ lawsuit, the driver of the First Student bus failed to execute a turn in the road and struck a curb, throwing four students out of their seats.
One of the students’ heads struck the window, and she sustained a concussion, the complaint said.
The incident disabled the bus, the lawsuit said.
Irwin replaced the two other drivers in October, the Divens’ lawsuit said.
According to the complaints, Irwin had been arrested for DUI and leaving the scene of an accident on Jan. 15, 2001.
He also had additional charges filed against him, including harassment in 2012, and failing to stop at a red light in North Carolina in 2012.