Three Young Family Victims of School Bus Accidents

 

 

JAMES DALE HINSON

JANUARY 24, 1964

Eleven-year-old James Dale Hinson was fatally injured Friday, January 24, 1964 when he was struck down in the Dyers Chapel Community of Trigg County, Kentucky by a school bus which passed another school bus that had stopped to let off passengers. The youngster was pronounced dead on arrival at Trigg County Hospital shortly after the accident occurred at 3.15 p. m. on U.S. 68 four miles west of Cadiz.  The school bus which Hinson was riding had stopped to let off seven youngsters. A second school bus passed the stopped bus and struck the youth who was crossing the highway. Mrs. Hinson, mother of the boy, was standing on the front porch of her home and saw the accident. Brothers and sisters of James Dale had unloaded from the same bus and had already crossed the highway. The bus driver of the second, bus told officials he thought the bus driver in the stopped bus had given him a signal to pass.  James was born on January 1, 1953 and was the son of Hoy Hollis and Opal Jean Wilson Hinson.

 

APRIL DAWN TERRELL

NOVEMBER 30, 1979

Six-year-old April Dawn Terrell of Cadiz, Kentucky was a first grade student at Trigg County Elementary School.  She was killed on Friday, November 30, 1979 when she was struck by a school bus on Cunningham Avenue in Cadiz.  April had gotten off the bus at her babysitter’s home and apparently dropped some of her school papers.  She was struck by the ' front wheel of the moving bus while trying to pick them up. The driver of the bus was said to have been watching some other youths at the back of the bus and did not see her step in front of the vehicle.  She was taken to Trigg County Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival. April was born July 15, 1973, the daughter of Larry Wade and Janice Marie Tyler Terrell.

 

JONATHAN LOUIS DOUTHITT

SEPTEMBER 27, 1984

Ten-year-old Jonathan Louis Douthitt was a student at Indian River Academy, a private independent school in Fort Pierce, Florida.  On the early morning of September 27, 1984 he was a passenger aboard a school bus that stalled and was struck by a train at Port St. Lucie, Florida.  Two students escaped through the front door of the bus before the trains struck it.  A fellow student, Raime Finn had left the bus, and then returned to wake Jonathan, who was asleep in the back seat of the bus.  Two other children and Cindy Douthitt, Jonathan’s mother and driver of the bus, escaped before the train struck.  A Florida highway patrol report issued after the accident blamed the accident and death on driver error and a locked emergency exit door.  The report said the children had tried to the open the locked door shortly before the train hit.  Mrs. Douthitt, the driver, was attempting to back the bus away from the track but shifted gears incorrectly, causing the bus to lurch forward onto the tracks.  Jonathan was born October 7, 1973 in Paducah, Kentucky and was the son of Stephen and Cindy Gale Burnett Douthitt.

 

 

LINEAGE:

 

(James Dale Hinson was the son of Hoy Hollis and Opal Jean Wilson Hinson, the grandson of Robert Rutherford and Johnnie Rhea Williams Hinson, the great-grandson of Robert Henry and Lucy Agnes Adams Williams, and the great-great grandson of John Wylie and Martha Jane Coleman Adams.  Martha Jane was the daughter of Alfred Boyd and Alpha Thomas Coleman.  Alpha was the second child of Perry and Elizabeth Bridges Thomas.  Perry was the third child of James and Mollie Standley Thomas.  Elizabeth was the sixth child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.)

 

(April Dawn Terrell was the daughter of Larry Wade and Janice Tyler Terrell, the granddaughter of Robert Joe and Nellie Myrtle Peal Terrell, the great granddaughter of Robert and Emma Skaggs Bridges Terrell and the great-great granddaughter William Joseph and Sarah Wills Bridges.  William Joseph was the first child of Simco N. and Emeline Martin Bridges.  Simco was the third child of William and Mary Thomas Bridges. William was the fourth child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges. Mary Thomas was the fifth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)

 

(Jonathan Louis Douthitt was the son of Stephen Morris and Cindy Gale Burnett Douthitt, the grandson of Louis Jesse and Reba Dean Martin Douthitt, the great grandson of William Luther and Ollie Esther Pritchard Martin and the great-great grandson of John Wesley and Dora Mae Bridges Pritchard.  Dora Mae was the third child of James C. and Mary Calhoun Bridges.  James was the sixth child of William and Mary Thomas Bridges. William was the fourth child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges. Mary Thomas was the fifth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)