Lee County, SC — August 14, 2025, nine people were injured in an afternoon truck-bus accident near a truck stop on U.S. Route 15/Sumter Highway.

Authorities said a school bus and an empty fuel tanker collided in front of the truck stop south of Bishopville.

Nine people, seven Lee Central Middle School students and two staff members from the bus, were hospitalized after the crash near Interstate 20, according to authorities.

The other 25 students on the bus at the time of the crash were transported to Lee Central High School to be picked up by relatives.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Lee County crash at this time.

Commentary

When a fuel tanker and a school bus collide, especially at a truck stop near a busy highway and a truck stop, the first question that crosses most people’s minds is: How could something like this happen? With nine people hospitalized and over two dozen more shaken, there’s clearly more to the story than what’s been reported so far. But without more details, we're left with a lot of unanswered questions that only a thorough investigation can resolve.

For starters, it’s not clear whether the truck or the bus caused the initial impact. That matters a great deal. Was the tanker pulling out of the truck stop? Was the bus trying to make a turn or cross traffic? Depending on which vehicle had the right of way, and who had a clear view of the road, different legal questions come into play.

If the tanker was in motion, investigators will need to dig into the truck’s black box, dash cam footage and the driver’s cell phone records to see what he was doing at the time. Did he brake too late? Was he distracted? Was the truck even roadworthy to begin with? On the other hand, if the bus made a maneuver that crossed into the tanker’s path, that raises a completely different set of concerns.

And we shouldn’t overlook the location. Crashes near truck stops often involve tricky logistics: blind turns, limited visibility and frequent merging traffic. It’s also a spot where drivers of both trucks and buses may be under time pressure or making judgment calls based on tight schedules.

I've handled crashes involving commercial trucks near fueling stations before. In one of those cases, a trucker tried to cross several lanes of highway traffic after exiting a truck stop and collided with an oncoming vehicle that had no time to react. The trucker swore he had a clear view, but dash cam footage told a different story, and so did the engine control module data. What looked like a simple misjudgment turned out to be a reckless maneuver based on false assumptions. Only a deep dive into the evidence made that clear.

Until we know more about what happened here in Lee County, it would be a mistake to point fingers at any one party. But if the goal is to prevent a repeat of this kind of incident, someone will have to pull together the black box data, driver records, camera footage and eyewitness accounts to figure out who was responsible and how it could have been avoided.

Key Takeaways:

• It's unclear whether the tanker or the school bus caused the initial collision.
• The crash occurred near a truck stop, where visibility and merging traffic often complicate maneuvers.
• Critical evidence like dash cam footage and black box data will be needed to understand what really happened.
• Investigators should look into driver behavior, vehicle condition, and road layout to determine fault.
• Accountability depends on facts, not assumptions. Only a full investigation can provide clarity.