Bus driver charged with being drunk

ALMOND, N.Y. (WIVB) - A Southern Tier school bus driver is charged with being drunk at the wheel.

Alfred-Almond Freshman Grace Scherzer said, "They're screaming because they're scared cause they're seeing her swerve and everything and we're calming them down."

The bus ride home from school Friday was a nightmare for Grace Scherzer, her friend Chelsey Pierce, and thirteen other Alfred-Almond students as young as five.

Police say their bus driver, 55-year-old Martha Thompson was drunk behind the wheel.

Grace Scherzer said, "We're going 70 miles per hour through there, swerving without looking. Thankfully there was no cars because we probably would've been hit."

The students say they had to throw the bus in reverse because Thompson froze in an intersection. They say she also ran over a mailbox, and even rolled backward down a hill.

Finally, the girls forced her stop and a cell phone picture shows the kids jumping out the emergency exit.

Alfred-Almond student Chelsey Pierce said, "She came down the steps telling us all to get back on the bus, and we said 'no, we don't feel safe with you, we're not going to ride with you.'"

Parent Robert Scherzer said, "The girls really acted heroicly. They did a pretty admirable thing, I think. It's kind of hard to ignore that fact."

State Police charged Thompson with felony DWI, and 15 counts each of endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment.

Students say this isn't the driver's first offense, but school officials wouldn't divulge her driving record. They do say the whole situation is regrettable.

Superintendent Rich Nicol said, "We're a strong community. We're a strong school district. And we'll do the right things that have to be done and we will come through this."

The school district suspended Thompson without pay and it now plans on re-training it's bus drivers and support staff on drug and alcohol policies.