School bus driver opens door to vomit and falls out

Twenty-one Pembroke Township students had bumps, bruises and minor injuries when their school bus rolled into a ditch on Friday morning, after the bus driver, who supposedly became ill and opened the door, fell out of the moving bus.

Kankakee County Chief Deputy Ken McCabe said driver Pierre Peoples, 24, of Robbins, opened the driver's door to vomit and then somehow fell out of the slow-moving vehicle, which then came to a stop 48 feet later.



Peoples was ticketed for improper lane usage and failure to wear a seat belt. According to police, no drugs or alcohol were involved. McCabe said Peoples sustained some cuts and bruises as a result of his fall.

After the accident at 7:48 a.m., the 21 elementary students, who ranged in age from 5 to 12, were taken to Kankakee's Riverside Medical Center where they were treated and released, said Carl Maronich, the hospital's marketing director. But only two sustained minor injury.