A woman was distracted by Snapchat on her cellphone when she drove through a stop sign and caused a collision with an Iron Range school bus that left nearly two dozen people injured, according to charges.
Charges: SUV driver was on Snapchat in crash that hurt 22 on Iron Range school bus
The driver gave various accounts to the State Patrol about when she was on the social media platform, according to the charges.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
December 27, 2024 at 10:29PM
Svea Lynn Snickers, 19, was charged Thursday in St. Louis County District Court with 22 counts of criminal vehicular operation, failure to obey a stop sign and using a wireless device while driving in connection with the crash on Sept. 12 east of Hibbing in Cherry Township at the intersection of Hwy. 5 and Town Line Road.
Snickers, who lives about 40 miles south of the crash scene in Alborn, was charged by summons and is due in court on Jan. 30. Messages were left Friday for Snickers seeking her response to the allegations. Court records do not list an attorney for her.
According to the criminal complaint:
Snickers was heading east in her SUV on Townline Road shortly before 7:50 a.m., went through the stop sign at 48 to 53 miles per hour and did not brake before hitting the bus broadside as it headed north on County Road 5 with the right of way.
The impact lifted the rear of the bus off the road and sent it rolling into the ditch before coming to rest on the driver’s side.
Prior to heading to the hospital for treatment of her injuries, Snickers told state troopers she acknowledged checking her cellphone but “could not remember if it [was] just prior to the crash or minutes before,” the charges read.
A week later, Snickers said in an interview with the State Patrol that she was coming back from her boyfriend’s home in Chisholm on the morning of the crash and “initially admitted that she used Snapchat to voice text a friend,” according to the charges. “[She] later admitted it had been a video message” that she sent on South Dublin Road close to the crash scene.
However, a patrol search of Snickers’ phone and Snapchat account revealed that she took a screenshot in the social media platform at 7:48:20 a.m. “just seconds before a 911 call was initiated” by a witness to the crash, the complaint continued.
Injuries to the 52-year-old bus driver and the 21 students on board included broken bones, concussions, bruises, small cuts and scrapes. The students ranged in age from 5 to 17.
The driver gave various accounts to the State Patrol about when she was on the social media platform, according to the charges.
