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Roach Gets a Year in Prison for Bus Wreck

By WestKyStar Staff

CARLISLE COUNTY, KY - Carlisle Circuit Court Judge Timothy Langford sentenced bus driver Anita Roach to one year in a state penitentiary on Thursday, for her role in a bus crash that killed one student.

Roach was found guilty of reckless homicide in the 2011 bus crash that injured several students killed 6-year-old Logan Simpson.

Attorney Will Kautz pleaded with the judge to just give his client probation, claiming that this was simply an accident, and Roach cried when requesting that the Judge Langford let her go home to her family.

Simpson's parents also spoke, and told the court that the three weeks that Roach has spent in jail was not enough to compensate for the life of their son, adding that eventually Roach will get to go home, but they will never see Logan again.

Judge Langford then gave his decision, sending Roach to a year in prison.

Published 01:34 AM, Friday Jul. 20, 2012
Updated 03:29 PM, Friday Jul. 20, 2012

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- Name: Independent Republocrat .
  
  7/26/2012 3:23:30 PM
  
  The M - So if you haven't noticed the majority of school bus drivers are retired or in a capacity that limits their ability to do other work. The M, are you saying those that are in need of their medicine cannot take it even if prescribed. The part of DUI that you are missing is that there must be impairment. What if they take their medicine nightly? If they have an accident and test positive the next morning throw them in jail? Unless there is a state statute stating prescription limitations drivers should be allowed to take their medicine UNLESS IMPAIRMENT occurs. One Beer can stay in your system for up to 8 hours. If she had two beers socially at 8pm the night before does she deserve a DUI? If so, then WE ALL DO! I am thankful to all our bus drivers. They get 40+ kids, 2x more than a teacher, are responsible for babysitting while driving, and (most) maintain a tight 3-5 minute pickup/drop-off window. JUDY - Grab your stemware wine glass, pop a cork off that 100 year old wine and go trim your roses. Bus driving is a real job and often 2nd job. I have 2 drivers from TN in my family (one recently heralded as a HERO here,Local 6, and Local News in TN, for his handling and safety precision of a bus invasion)I am not a bus driver, however, I never EVER turn my nose-up toward positions and people that work hard and are less fortunate than myself. The cameras are constantly recording. The unit does not transmit, but most hold data for up to 30 days and then it cycles and records over previous tapes. The purpose is to encourage good behavior and if there is a disputtable event, have an additional resource to research the event. BTW, driver average pay is about $10,500 annually per Bureau of Labor Statistics. With 180 days of school that's almost $60/day. $60/5hrs of work is 12/hr. Plus many have second jobs. Please be advised that WKS community supports non-discrimination towards underpriveledged. Just read the terms of service or personally message me and I can assist you. Regards,
  
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  Name: Gerald C.
  
  7/25/2012 8:13:16 PM
  
  Police say the driver lost control of the bus along HWY-62 near the Cunningham community around 1:30 p.m. Witnesses say the bus went off the right shoulder, came back across both lanes and rolled down a hill into a ditch. The jury acquitted Roach on a tougher charge of manslaughter, which could have meant five to ten years behind bars. She was also acquitted on all charges that stemmed from injuries received by others on the bus. The jury did find Anita Roach guilty on the lesser charge of reckless homicide. At the time of the accident, Anita Roach said she has swerved to avoid hitting a deer. Investigators later found she had prescription drugs in her system and the story of the deer was not true.
  
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  Name: MARK W.
  
  7/25/2012 2:56:27 PM
  
  I would think that the high backed seats with close spacing provide effective protection for a child in most forward collisions, but once a bus is on it's side or roof, and a childe leaves the compartmentalized area of the seat, I think a seat belt would be preferrable. From what I've read, statistically, a school bus is still far safer than travelling by car. More children are injured while loading and unloading the school bus, than in actual collisions while riding the bus. I'm sure that is little comfort to a greiving family, because it does seem that in this case a seat belt might have helped. Kentucky has more strict laws governing school bus safety than most other states. After the Carrolton crash in 1988, Kentucky led the rest of the nation in requiring additional safety equipment and emergency exits on school busses. I'm still don't understand why the earlier crash was just an accident, and this crash resulted in jail time for the driver. I guess health privacy laws prevent the driver's medication or medical history from being released, but perhaps knowing the medications in question could clear up the desrepancy between these two incidents.
  
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  Name: The M.
  
  7/24/2012 12:45:17 PM
  
  Some believe that if you have a prescription for a narcotic drug that it is ok to drive while taking it. That is very misleading. First of all, even if you have a priscription it is illegal to operate a motor vehicle while taking that drug. If you have an accident or are pulled over and they "drug" test you, you are guilty of DUI. Just becuae you "have a prescription" don't make it legal.
  
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  Name: Concerned C.
  
  7/24/2012 9:19:12 AM
  
  I agree that seat belts should be installed on all school buses along w/ extra supervisors to look after younger children. Ky is so proud of their "click it or ticket" campaign but mainly the ticket part it seems. Why don't they "click it" on school buses.
  
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  Name: Judy T.
  
  7/23/2012 10:54:49 AM
  
  Terra S: Do you really think those cameras are to keep an eye on the driver? I'm not sure but I would think that they were there because the bus is full of kids, kids don't always behave and the driver is looking at the road. when trouble starts the camera will record the guilty ones. When you see bus drivers speed I wonder if it is because they cannot let the high/middle school kids off until a certain time. After they let the older kids off they have a set amount of time to make the second run. In that time they have kids who aren't quite out to the stop yet and a route that just might be too long for the alloted time. When McCracken County had pre-school busses they had seat belts and a monitor. Why don't the other busses have seat belts? This year it appears as if the 3 and 4 yr olds will be on the regular busses without the seat belts, what changed? A statement was made that the time she spent in jail wasn't enough to compensate for the childs life. What? Do I detect a bit of vengeance here? This was an accident. If I was wanting vengence it would be against the school system that didn't have the seat belt which would have saved his life. Will a year make a difference?
  
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  Name: seth w.
  
  7/23/2012 8:21:16 AM
  
  a risky job indeed. so this other guy in the news gets to go back and work at a school, she goes to prison?
  
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  Name: Judy T.
  
  7/22/2012 9:23:40 PM
  
  Another article said that the prescription drugs in her system were her regular prescription. Several testified that she didn't seem impaired by the drugs. Maybe this should be a warning to other school bus drivers to get out, find another job, one that nets you more than a little above minimum wage and leaves very little time in a day to get another part time job.
  
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  Name: MARK W.
  
  7/21/2012 7:48:54 AM
  
  Seth, good question, and one apparently WKStar hasn't bothered to ask. Why is this not considered an accident? There have been 3 or 4 stories on here about this wreck, and not a one has given any more details. From what I could gather from other sources, the driver tested positive for prescriptions drugs for which she did not have a prescription. This was the factor which escalated the wreck from accidental to negligent.
  
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  Name: seth w.
  
  7/20/2012 10:11:57 AM
  
  how was she reckless? how did this happen?
  
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  Name: Judy T.
  
  7/20/2012 9:48:03 AM
  
  How much would it cost to install seat belts which would have saved this child life?
  
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  Name: Terra S.
  
  7/20/2012 3:43:16 AM
  
  I've been looking, and to install a camera that would record the driver would cost around $100 per bus. many school systems have installed these cameras with great success. Most people tend to behave when they know they are being watched. While I would never condone cameras out in public, when you are the driver of a bus full of school children, you should accept the responsibility of that and any steps that the school system takes to keep the children safe. This is just something else that the department of education should be doing and isn't. Instead they are building palace schools and football stadiums. Priorities are all messed up. What a shame. I cannot imagine what those parents went through the day that this wreck happened and are still suffering.
  
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  Name: Kyle W.
  
  7/20/2012 3:34:36 AM
  
  They have the technology to monitor the bus drivers. They just don't do it. It is expensive. But it wouldn't track things like cell phone usage and DUI.
  
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  Name: Terra S.
  
  7/20/2012 2:56:50 AM
  
  Wow, Dan. Talk about taking something the wrong way, I didn't mean I USE my gps to judge my speed, I just meant that my gps has that function. Does yours not? Most of them do I thought. I've never had a speeding ticket and haven't deserved one since I was a teenager. Back to the subject at hand, with all the technology available there must be some way to monitor bus drivers to make sure they are driving within reason. GPS was something I knew about so that's what I commented about.
  
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  Name: Dan t.
  
  7/20/2012 2:44:01 AM
  
  You make a comment that you use a GPS to judge your speed & still have the @@@@ to say that on this form.lol. What about you watching your ===== not even going there!!!
  
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  Name: Terra S.
  
  7/20/2012 2:09:45 AM
  
  I hope some of these school bus drivers who drive around like idiots will pay attention to this. I see school bus drivers breaking the speed limit, driving in the middle of the road, not yielding to traffic, taking turns at high speed, and cutting people off all the time and I do not know how in the world any parent trusts their child with some of these people behind the wheel. My gps will tell me when I am going over the speed limit, couldn't they install something that would send an alarm when school bus drivers do that?
  
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