School bus mishap claim settled

An Oconee judge approved a pre-trial settlement this morning that ends a claim on behalf of a girl hurt in a school bus mishap a year and a half ago.  Both parties, the girl’s parent and guardian and the state Department of Education, agreed to end the Oconee Common Pleas case with the approval of an $8,500 settlement.  Of that figure, the girl receives $2,800.  Plaintiff’s lawyer Matthew Bradley said the girl, 10 years old at the time, was thrown from her seat, injuring her tailbone.  Although now fully recovered, the girl required counseling for emotional disturbance.  Judge David Caraker, a visiting judge from Myrtle Beach, was told a bus driver turned short and a rear tire dislodged and wound up off the road.  The settlement was reached when the insurance carrier for the South Carolina Education Department offered to pay the agreed on $8,500.