VIDALIA — The driver of the school bus involved in an accident that left him seriously injured and sent dozens of students the hospital will be ticketed.

James Cockerham, of Vidalia, will be cited for failure to maintain proper control as driver of the bus that struck the rear-end of a Vidalia garbage truck Oct. 8, Vidalia Police Chief Ronnie G. “Tapper” Hendricks said.

The garbage truck reportedly traveled another 115 feet before coming to a stop at a utility pole, and the bus traveled another 40 feet before impacting a different utility pole.

The reason Cockerham will be cited is that a joint investigation by the Vidalia Police Department and the Louisiana State Police could find no evidence that the school bus was trying to stop before it struck the garbage truck, a statement from the Vidalia Police Department said.

“The state police (crash) reconstruction involved both on-site measurements and computer models,” he said. “Those guys put a lot of factors into their investigation.”

During the course of the investigation, investigators tested the brake lights on the garbage truck and the brakes on the school bus.

Both the garbage truck’s lights and the brakes for the school bus were found to be in working order at the time of the crash.

The driver of the garbage truck was not cited.

During the course of the accident, Cockerham was partially ejected from the bus. He received a deep gash to his face that severed an artery and both of his legs were broken. One student on the bus suffered a fractured leg, and another one broke a hip. The other 43 students were taken to local hospitals and treated for injuries of varying degrees.

Cockerham was recently transferred to the long-term acute care facility at Promise Hospital of the Miss-Lou in Ferriday.

A bank account has been set up at the Vidalia and Ferriday branches of Delta Bank to help with Cockerham’s medical expenses.