The driver of a tractor-trailer that struck a school bus in Statesboro Monday morning has been charged with tailgating, according to Georgia State Patrol reports.

There were no students on the bus because driver Brandi Leigh Perkins was just beginning to pick up children for Langston Chapel middle and elementary schools around 6:10 a.m., said Hayley Greene, public relations specialist for Bulloch schools.

It was still dark when Perkins stopped at the railroad crossing on Veteran’s Memorial Parkway, about a quarter mile west of Highway 301. Georgia state law requires all school buses to stop at railroad crossings, even if there are no children there, said Paul Webb, superintendent of operations for the Schools Department of Transportation.

“She had her yellow flashing lights on and the bus door open,” he said. “She was rolling down her window to listen for a train, as required by Georgia law, when she told me she felt the impact and heard metal grinding.”

Garrett Rodriquez Carter, of Oak Lake Drive in Augusta, drove into the rear of the stationary school bus, causing significant damage to the cab of the truck and the right rear of the school bus.

Perkins, 39, was in stable condition after being transported to East Georgia Regional Medical Center by Bulloch County EMS.

“I spoke to the driver while she was at the hospital and she was stable and conscious,” Webb said Monday morning. “Honestly, this could have been a real tragedy if there were children on that bus. I can’t stress enough the importance of school bus safety to the drivers out there.”

According to the label on the 2010 International truck, it is part of Griffis Motor Lines, based in North Augusta, South Carolina. Representatives of Griffis were not immediately available for comment.

Webb estimated that the force of the impact threw the bus about 100 yards before it came to a stop in front of Advance Auto Parts on the bypass.

When Perkins arrived at the scene about 15 minutes after the accident, Webb said she was already on her way to the EGRMC emergency room. He said he saw the driver of the truck and asked him if he was OK, to which the driver indicated he was fine.

“I have not spoken to the driver nor have I had the opportunity to speak to the police officers on the scene, but the driver must have been distracted by something that prevented him from slowing down before he struck the bus,” Webb said. “I did not see any skid marks on the road before the collision.”

Police reports say Carter, 43, said he saw Perkins’ flashing lights and she stopped at the tracks, but he believes she started moving again and did not slow down in time to avoid the collision.

You can reach Jim Healy at (912) 489-9402.

You can reach Holli Saxon at (912) 489-9414.