Representatives for Mars Area School District’s transportation company argued two of the eight juvenile plaintiffs included in a lawsuit filed after a March 6 bus crash should address their concerns in a separate case.

The lawsuit, filed in March in response to the crash, sent seven elementary students and driver William “Bill” Miller to area hospitals. Miller later died, according to the school district.

Two of the student plaintiffs in the lawsuit were not aboard the bus, but were riding the bus during other crashes, according to the suit.

In a May 28 filing, attorneys with Burke Cromer Cremonese, representing Transportation company A.J. Myers & Sons, argued the injuries and distress that those two students allegedly sustained were from incidents unrelated to the crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township, as the students were not on the bus for that crash.

Despite the two students not being aboard the bus, attorney Timothy Wojton representing parents appearing on behalf of eight juvenile plaintiffs disagreed that the crash was unrelated to the previous bus crashes the two juveniles were present for.

Wojton argued in a June 9 filing the crashes are connected because the district and transportation company could have avoided the March 6 crash based on six previous incidents cited in the lawsuit.

The filing alleges the March 6 crash was the result of a failure to take action after the previous incidents. It also argues all crashes involve the same driver, transportation company, school district and similar negligent conduct.

According to the suit, the two students were aboard a bus on Sept. 6, 2023, when the driver allegedly rear-ended another bus while leaving Mars Area Centennial School. They were also aboard a bus Oct. 31, 2024, when the driver allegedly struck one or more mailboxes along Hammond Road in Middlesex Township.

One student sustained a finger injury in the Sept. 6 crash, and both allegedly suffer from psychological distress as a result of the incidents, according to the suit.

Six other students involved in the lawsuit also allegedly sustained psychological distress after the March 6 crash, according to the lawsuit. According to the suit, the distress was compounded by the previous incidents.

Attorneys for the transportation company said in their filing the incidents between the two groups of plaintiffs involve the same driver, but are otherwise unrelated. It said the three crashes should not be considered a series of events since they occurred over a period of 18 months.

The lawsuit alleges the district and transportation company showed negligence and negligent entrustment by allowing a driver with a history of crashes to transport students.

Wojton argued the case stems from a common factual background linking the incidents, and the state Supreme Court mandates cases should be joined when possible to expedite the process.

He said both cases would include the same facts and witnesses if severed, and the previous incidents would still need to be investigated because of the common psychological distress.