Three collisions involving school buses worry Ontario provincial police
By The Canadian Press
Three separate crashes involving school buses in the last two days, including one that left a motorist dead, have Ontario provincial police pleading for drivers to pay more attention.
The fatality occurred in good weather Thursday morning, when a sport utility vehicle slammed into the back of a school bus on Highway 17 near Spragge, Ont., police said.
“We had a school bus stopped…with the lights on and the stop arm out and it was picking up a child from school,” provincial police Insp. Scott Hlady said Friday. “A red SUV that was driving in the same direction just did not stop and ran into the back of the school bus.”
The driver of the SUV died from his injuries but none of the children were seriously hurt. The investigation is ongoing and further details were not immediately available.
At about the same time Thursday, another crash occurred near West Parry Sound on Highway 141, where a school bus collided with a farm tractor, tipping over when it hit the ditch. No children were hurt in that incident although the tractor driver received minor injuries, Hlady said. The 62-year-old bus driver from Huntsville, Ont., was charged with making an unsafe lane change.
The third collision occurred Friday in Elliot Lake, Ont., this one a minor fender bender between a bus and car. No one was hurt.
“The three bus collisions in a couple of days raised the alarm for us,” Hlady said. “School’s not done. You need to expect school buses to be on the road during school hours. More importantly, we’re not done winter yet.”
While the collisions occurred in good weather, Hlady warned winter conditions can still occur and he urged drivers to take that account.
