Appomattox County, VA — November 1, 2025, a child and three adults were injured due to a semi-truck versus school bus accident at 4:30 p.m. on US 460.

Investigators said in their statements that the accident happened in the Evergreen area southeast of Appomattox.

According to officials, an Appomattox County Public Schools bus was going westbound along US Route 460. The bus reportedly had let or was in the process of letting kids off the bus. From behind, authorities allege that a semi-truck was following too closely to a Chevy pickup, and it crashed into the pickup. The semi-truck then hit a child who had been on the bus and also crashed into the bus.

As a result of the accident, reports say a child and two adults involved in the accident had to be flown from the scene due to their injuries. A third adult was taken from the scene via ground ambulance. There did not appear to be any other confirmed injuries.

Authorities say that the truck driver has been charged for following too closely. Additional details are unavailable.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

As serious as this situation was, people might think it's all wrapped up. After all, authorities say the truck driver has been charged. But will that really solve the problem? Not only do victims and families deserve to know there will be full accountability for the harm done to them, but also the community deserves to know if there's a bigger problem than just a single reckless driver. Let me explain.

I've handled hundreds of commercial vehicle accident cases. A crash like this is often more than just an individual driver making an isolated mistake. A lot of the time, there's also a negligent employer behind what happened.

Was the driver on their phone? Were they speeding to meet an unreasonable deadline? Were they pressured into driving long hours? Are they inexperienced or poorly trained? Do they have a history of negligent driving their employer overlooked? Did their truck fail to slow down due to overloaded cargo or poor maintenance leading to mechanical issues?

When investigators ask these questions, they often reveal that there is a system of bad behavior behind the scenes that makes serious accidents like this all but inevitable. Correcting those mistakes, then, requires accountability on behalf of the driver who made the mistake as well as any complicit employer whose behavior paved the way for that mistake to occur. Whether or not that happened here isn't clear right now, but that's something investigations need to dig into as soon as possible.