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The San Antonio Independent School District community is coming together Thursday after losing one of their bus drivers in a crash.
Fellow bus drivers of Dolores Martinez, 63, tied yellow and black ribbons to their buses in her honor. The yellow ribbons symbolize the school and school service as well as the color of the buses, while the black ribbons symbolize the black trim of the bus as well as the loss they suffered this week.
Martinez was driving an SAISD bus when it collided with a Judson ISD bus at North Foster Road and Candlemeadow, outside Wagner High School, at around 7:30 a.m. Monday.
According to investigators, Martinez was heading north when she lost control, jumped a median curb, crossed into the southbound lanes and crashed head-on with a Judson ISD bus. The SAISD bus kept going and went through a fence before coming to rest in a yard.
Martinez had five children as passengers and the Judson bus was carrying 59 students, none higher than the third grade. Two students and the Judson ISD bus driver sustained minor injuries and were taken to a hospital.
Investigators say Martinez was thrown from her seat, but was not thrown out of the bus. She was killed instantly upon impact of the two buses.
Martinez had been a driver with the district for 12 years. She began working for the district as a bus driver assistant in 1999 and moved into the bus driver position in 2000.
Bob Sirois, with SAISD transportation said, “We had some of the drivers who wanted to put ribbons on the buses to symbolize how they felt about her and the dedication that she exhibited to all the children.”
A memorial service will be held at the Delgado funeral home Thursday night and a number of her fellow drivers will also be attending.
