Saturday, March 21, 2015

PICKUP TRUCK DRIVER CITED FOR FAILURE TO STOP AT A STOP SIGN AFTER COLLISION WITH A SCHOOL BUS SENT 15 STUDENTS, 2 DRIVERS TO HOSPITAL




MARCH 19, 2015

SALISBURY TOWNSHIP, LANCASTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Fifteen Pequea Valley students taken to the hospital after a pickup truck struck their school bus Thursday have all been released, officials said.

“There were a few bumps and bruises,” said John Bowden, chief of finance and operations for the school district. “Everyone walked off on their own.”

The school bus driver, Judy Fasnacht, 61, of Gap, suffered minor injury and will remain in the hospital until Friday, Lancaster General Hospital spokeswoman Frieda Schmidt said. The pickup truck driver, Elijah Williard, 21, of Lebanon, was treated and released Thursday.

The students are high school and middle school students in the district, so their ages are 12-18.

The 7 a.m. wreck occurred at Slaymaker Hill and  Amish roads, which is west of Route 772 in the Kinzers area of Salisbury Township.

According to state police, Williard was driving his Dodge Ram pickup truck north on Hensel Road when he failed to stop at a stop sign at Slaymaker Hill Road.
Williard's truck hit the school bus as it was traveling east on Slaymaker Hill Road.

Bowden said the truck hit the driver’s side of the bus, in the area of the front wheel.

The bus is a 72-passenger bus owned by Brightbill Transportation, which provides transportation for the district, Bowden said.

The bus was about halfway through picking up its students for the school day.
Police cited Williard with failing to stop at a stop sign.

Source: http://lancasteronline.com