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DRAPER — A Davis County school bus driver transporting a total of 75 sixth grade students and teachers was pulled over and arrested for investigation of DUI Monday.
"I don't get scared very easy, but my heart is pounding," a woman who saw the bus told a 911 dispatcher. "I am honestly shaking at this point."
Lycia Martinez, 39, of Clinton, was driving 67 students and eight adults, including teachers and one school administrator, from four elementary schools to a student council conference at BYU when other motorists on southbound I-15 started calling 911 just before 8 a.m. because of her poor driving, said Utah Highway Patrol trooper Jason Sills.
"Whoever is driving this thing can't maintain a lane," the first man who called 911 told a dispatcher.
Audio copies of the 911 calls were released by the UHP. At least one adult on the bus also called 911 to let troopers know where they were.
"We are concerned with our bus driver. Can an officer follow behind her for awhile and see if he agrees with her driving? She can't stay in a lane, she's crossing the double line and the adults are getting scared," the unidentified woman tells the dispatcher. "We have a long ways to go with this lady and we are not feeling secure."
She can't stay in a lane, she's crossing the double line and the adults are getting scared. We have a long ways to go with this lady and we are not feeling secure.
–unidentified 911 caller
The woman first contacted the 911 dispatcher when the bus was near 3300 South and I-15. She stayed on the line until troopers pulled the bus driver over. Several times during the 10-minute phone call, the woman made comments such as, "It is freaking scary, and we've got 76 people on this bus," "We're nervous," "She's freaking us out," and "I feel like I'm on a stupid Lagoon ride."
At one point the woman gets excited and said, "She almost hit this man next to us. … She just gets so darn close to these cars."
"I'm going to just close my eyes so I see nothing," she nervously told the dispatcher.
"The vehicle kept drifting back and forth, almost hit a couple of cars, seemed very erratic," said Sills, who was the trooper who pulled Martinez over and arrested her.
Sills spotted Martinez near 11400 South on I-15 just after 8 a.m. and pulled her over just off the 12300 South exit.
"She was able to follow the conversation OK, was a little slow, was very unsteady, swayed a lot. She couldn't really explain why we would have this many people call, complaining about her driving. She tried saying she was using the radio, but that didn't add up to the miles upon miles that we kept getting calls about it," he said.
Investigators believe Martinez was under the influence of prescription medication. Sills said the driver does have a prescription for an undisclosed type of medication, but she shouldn't have taken it before getting behind the wheel.
"I think she just took it at the wrong time — not necessarily abusing it, just bad timing," he said. "She should have made a better decision about timing."
Martinez's prescriptions generally treat pain, anxiety or high blood pressure and came with a warning they may cause drowsiness or dizziness, UHP reported.
Martinez, who has been a bus driver with the Davis School District for six years, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of DUI and failing to operate in one lane. The students on the bus were from Lincoln, South Weber, Vae View and Whitesides elementary schools. A school bus driver from the Canyons School District volunteered to take the students the rest of the way to Provo. Davis School District officials sent another one of their drivers to take the students home.
Contributing: Sandra Yi and Devon Dolan
