Another School Team Van, Another Tragic Accident

This kind of thing is happening way too often:

HARTFORD, Vt. — One member of the girls' track team of a prestigious New York City school was paralyzed and two other people also injured after the van carrying the squad to a meet flipped over on a highway, police said.

The van, taking a junior varsity team from Stuyvesant High School to the Dartmouth Relays in Hanover, N.H., was traveling north on Interstate 91 on Saturday when it veered onto a median and rolled over near the junction with Interstate 89, according to Vermont State Police.

The road was dry at the time.

The vehicle came to rest on its side, and passers-by rushed to it to hold it in place, preventing it from rolling over again. Four passengers crawled out, two were partially ejected, one was trapped behind the steering wheel and two others were inside, according to fire department officials.

"The public was helping when I got there," said Sgt. Gerry Goguen of the Vermont State Police. "It was a hectic scene."

One girl, a junior, was paralyzed, police said. The girl was flown to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., which wouldn't release her condition Tuesday.

Coach Erin Taylor, 29, who was driving, was in fair condition at the hospital. Another student was also hospitalized.