Fatigue may have contributed to a deadly bus wreck Friday in Runnels County that involved an Abilene Christian University vehicle, a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper said in a release issued Tuesday on the investigation.
The school-owned bus left the highway, hit a concrete culvert and did a complete roll Friday afternoon, ejecting 12 of the 16 on board. The bus was carrying 12 agricultural studies students, three faculty members and a faculty member’s wife from Abilene to Medina, where they were going to spend the weekend doing mission work at a children's home.Anabel Reid, a student from Petersburg, was pronounced dead at the scene. The other 15 people on board were taken to area hospitals, four of them were critically injured.Allison Dorshorst, 18, of Colleyville was one of those injured.A DPS wreck reconstruction team spent late Friday and Saturday investigating the wreck.The DPS release states that the 34-year-old driver, faculty member Michael Nicodemus, lost control as the bus was entering a bend on U.S. 83 near Ballinger in Runnels County at about 3:15 p.m. Friday.Nicodemus had a Texas commercial license as required by state law, the release states.He was the only one wearing a seat belt even though all the seats were equipped with seat belts, the DPS release states. Texas law does not require the passengers in this type of vehicle to wear seat belts.Nicodemus was traveling at 65 mph, an on-board computer recorded. The speed limit for that highway is 70 mph.The investigation is ongoing.DPS officials said Tuesday that once the investigation is completed they would discuss the case with Runnels County prosecutors to determine if any charges would be filed.Domingo Ramirez Jr., 817-390-7763
