MANCHESTER, Jamaica— Twenty-nine students of the Spalding-based Knox College escaped serious injuries after the Coaster bus they were travelling in veered off the Content to Williamsfield main road on Wednesday morning.

Police said the crash happened sometime before 8:00 am.

Head of the Manchester Traffic Department Sergeant Florizel Williams said the driver of the Coaster claimed he swerved left to avoid slamming into the back of a vehicle, which stopped suddenly in front of the bus.

“This [was] a single vehicle accident it involved a Toyota Coaster bus. There were 29 students on board. The driver applied brake, lost control and ran off the roadway… minor injuries were sustained. Most of the students have gone to school,” Williams said.

“Some are traumatised and their parents picked them up and are gone back home,” he added.

Sergeant Williams is imploring motorists to use dash cameras in their vehicles.

“I would recommend that each motorist get a dash cam, because that while clear up the ambiguity in most of these collisions, it is important that motorists get a dash cam no only for themselves, but it is the clarity in terms of the investigation,” he said.

“It will clear up the ambiguity in terms of who is responsible [for] the collision, so it is very important in going forward to get a dash cam,” he added.

He suggested that insurance companies make the use of dash cameras mandatory.

“… Because one of the things we expect in life is that everybody will try and defend themselves, but it is just that in defending themselves, not everybody is right, so that should be made mandatory in terms of the insurance companies,” said the policeman.

— Kasey Williams