Car hits bus carrying 13 kids
5 sent to hospital as a precaution; car's driver is cited
About 8:30 a.m., a Salt Lake County Recreation school bus was involved in a T-bone accident with a car at the intersection of 8200 South and 6700 West. The bus had 13 children, first- through fourth-graders, on board at the time.
The intersection is a four-way stop with stop signs on each corner. The school bus had stopped and was proceeding south when a vehicle driven by a 32-year-old man ran the stop sign heading west and slammed into the middle of the bus, said West Jordan Police Sgt. Greg Butler.
"Witnesses said the bus went on two wheels for a second (when it was hit). But luckily it landed on all four wheels," said West Jordan Fire Battalion Chief Marc McElreath.
The bus driver did a good job keeping the children calm and on the bus until paramedics arrived to check them out, he said.
"It all went pretty smoothly," McElreath said.
Four 7-year-olds and a 10-year-old, who all complained of various head and neck pains, were taken to Jordan Valley Hospital as a precaution, he said.
The car that collided with the bus was totaled, Butler said. The driver and an adult passenger were in the vehicle. They were not seriously injured.
Speeding did not appear to be a factor in the accident, he said. The speed limit on the road is 35 mph. There was also no evidence of drugs or alcohol.
The children were all part of a program in which parents can drop off their kids at the Kearns recreation center in the morning and the bus takes them each to their separate schools. In the afternoon, the children are taken back to the rec center, where they can play until their parents pick them up, McElreath said.
After the accident, a second bus was sent to pick up the children who were not taken to the hospital.
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com
Recent comments
When will some people learn that a stop sign means STOP!!!!!
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K | May 8, 2008 at 9:26 a.m.
