Some college students involved in a crash on Interstate 75 at East Ridge on Sunday credited their bus driver’s quick thinking for minimizing the potential damage.
“Our bus driver reacted really quickly because we almost hit the cement wall [that divides the northbound and southbound lanes],” one student said. All the students from Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo., declined to give their names after an adviser told them not to.
The driver, Barry Dunnigan, owner and operator of USA Tours, attributed his speedy reaction to his time in the military.
“I’ve got a little bit more extensive driving training than the average bus driver,” he said. “Luckily, I was able to keep the bus stable because I thought we were going to tilt over.”
About 30 Lincoln University students were returning from the Miss Historically Black Colleges and Universities Pageant in Atlanta, where one had placed second.