I will reiterate what I told him in case there are others who feel my comments were too harsh. My initial reaction was perhaps too harsh given that subsequent mitigating information was released regarding a possible medical condition that may have caused the accident. Furthermore, I initially read the Register-Herald article as stating that he had a BAC of “.22” when in fact it was “.022” – which is obviously a big difference. For this reason, I subsequently redacted my initial comments and provided an update with the new information on this Blog.

The point is, that if I was mistaken about the facts, then I agree that my language was too harsh and I apologize. If the driver had not been drinking, then I was wrong in using such strong language. Although, anyone who has previously driven off a 120 cliff while driving a school bus filled with children – whether drunk or not – should not be given a second chance to drive children around on mountain roads. So, to a certain extent, it doesn’t matter whether he was intoxicated or not. The fact is that it happened, and it can’t be attributed to icy roads.

However – and this is a big however – if he had been drinking, then I stand by my comments 100%. I don’t care if the driver of the bus is Mother Theresa, I will side with the children 100% of the time. If that man got behind the wheel of that bus, putting the lives of 11 innocent children at risk, then he deserves nothing less than 11 years in prison (1 year for each child), plus lifetime revocation of his license. My opinion may be unpopular to the friends and family of the driver, but I base my opinion on principle, not public opinion.

After I told this to the aforesaid citizen who confronted me on the street, he replied that, “well he did do it – he already resigned, but you shouldn’t say things that are mean.” Let it be known from here forward, if you recklessly or negligently hurt innocent children in my community, then I will write “mean” things about you on this Blog. – John H. Bryan