School bus rollover accident in Random Lake: Father of injured children wants change

CITY OF FREDONIA, Wisconsin. – Dozens of Ozaukee County students are recovering after their school bus was hit and overturned on Monday, September 16.

Eight children were taken to hospital.

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Shortly after John Mesich and his wife dropped their five children off at the bus stop in the town of Fredonia, they heard a bang, followed by a text message they will never forget.

“They thought they were going to die,” said Mesich, who had four of the children taken to the hospital. “That was the text message we got from our second oldest son. It said that the bus had just tipped over. That's what I saw when I tried to put my shoes on and go down there.”

Mesich ran and saw that the Random Lake School District school bus had tipped over on its side with 36 children inside.

“All of the kids hit other kids,” Mesich said. “They were thrown out of their seats and then the bus rolled over. Some of the kids hit the windows and those are some of the kids who sustained injuries.”

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He said his children suffered neck injuries and bruises but were back home on Tuesday.

The school bus was traveling north on County Highway E around 7:30 a.m. Monday. Investigators say as the bus reached the intersection with Jay Road, a Jeep ran the stop sign and struck the bus.

“It's a confusing intersection, you can hardly see anything and people ignore stop signs all the time,” said Mesich. “So there are regular near misses.”

On Tuesday, he began collecting signatures for changes, be it a stop sign on all four sides of the road, more signage or rumble strips.

“At intersections like this one that are marked or require additional devices, we will install them,” he said.

According to the Ozaukee County Department of Public Works, there have been six traffic accidents at this intersection in the last seven and a half years, including Monday.

None of the accidents were fatal, but Mesich is not waiting for that to happen.

“The safety of the children comes first,” he said.

The department said it is reviewing Wisconsin Department of Transportation guidelines for intersections with four stop signs, as well as other options, such as what drivers see when crossing the intersection.