Education, Public Safety
VIDEO: Car hits school bus near Urbana; no one seriously hurt
Posted on Oct 27, 2009 by Jeff Raasch.
Firefighters attempt to get a car removed from underneath a school bus on 55th Street Trail southeast of Urbana after an accident this morning, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009. The driver of the car was taken to a hospital, but his injuries did not appear serious. None of the 50 students on board the bus were hurt, authorities said. (Jeff Raasch/The Gazette)
No one was seriously hurt when a car slammed into a school bus loaded with children near Urbana this morning.
The Center Point-Urbana bus was stopped to pick up a rider on 55th Street Trail, about a mile southeast of Urbana, when a car driven by a 14-year-old rear-ended the bus around 8 a.m., authorities said.
About 50 to 55 kids in grades K-12 were on the bus, but none were injured, according to Chief Deputy Michael Ferguson, of the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.
The driver, whose name was not released, was taken by ambulance to Mercy Medical Center. His injuries didn’t appear to be serious, Ferguson said.
Ferguson said the sun blinded the car driver, causing the wreck.
“The bus was stopped, had its lights on and had its stop arm out,” Ferguson said.
The bus and the car driver were headed to school at Center Point.
The car was wedged underneath the rear of the bus, nearly to the windshield. Only the bumper appeared damaged on the bus.
SemperFidelis
27. Oct, 2009
And the "School bus drivers are the worst drivers ever" comments will start in 3…2…1…
Knows4news
27. Oct, 2009
They are called accidents for a reason. Lets all be glad that no children were hurt and let it go at that.
Tyree_C
27. Oct, 2009
Hmm…at 8 a.m. the sun is well above the horizon. If the sun does bother a driver, there are these visor thingies he can pull down to cover the upper part of the windshield [of course, one has to be smarter than the visor to do this]. And I doubt the bus materialized out of thin air at that location, which suggests the driver had to know it was at least present and in existence somewhere up ahead. All in all, this sounds to me rather like somebody was texting while he was supposed to be operating a motor vehicle. And how does a 14-year-old get to drive a car legally, anyway?
89CRCy
27. Oct, 2009
Fact: sunrise this morning was at 7:41 am (see http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.h... In addition, looking at the picture the bus and car were on an incline, worsening the sun angle. When the sun is particularly low, a visor does no good – in order to block the sun, you'd block your entire field of vision.
Fact: 14-1/2 is the minimum age for an Iowa Minor School License, which permits a youth to drive to and from school. (See http://www.iowadot.gov/MVD/ods/msl.htm.) These are quite common – particularly in the smaller, more rural school districts.
And while it is certainly possible for any driver – not just youth – to have been distracted by cell phone use or something else, there's no reason to jump to that assumption. It's entirely possible that a simple lack of driving experience led to following too close for the given conditions. (I'll keep my personal opinion about the Iowa Minor School Licenses to myself, but the fact is at 14 a driver simply hasn't experienced the number of situations that an older driver has.) I've personally been driving for more than 25 years, but it took a few minor scrapes and several years before I learned to be even a decent driver; yet I thought I new all by 18. We all make mistakes – it's what we learn from them that's key.
I'm glad to hear that there were apparently no serious injuries.
cyagolfing
27. Oct, 2009
Yes this was a 14 yr old driver. Yes he may have been texting. Yes we do have visors. Yes even you made mistakes in your 1st year of driving too! Not only am i glad that nobody on the bus was injured, but i am glad that my neighbor's sons are ok that were in the car. The driver is a good kid. How easy it is for people to pile on a situation that could have been much worse. Remember we were all that age once and all made choices that could have ended worse than they did! Tell us about a mistake you made and let us pile on you! No, we wont because we are more mature than that.
89CRCy
27. Oct, 2009
My original comment apparently did not go through. No piling on here, just a couple of facts: 1) Sunrise was at 7:41 am this morning (see http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.h... and 2) an Iowa Minor School License can be obtained at a minimum age of 14-1/2 (see http://www.iowadot.gov/MVD/ods/msl.htm). I've driven due East at 8:00 am and can't get my visor low enough to block the sun without blocking my entire field of vision. (You can also try driving west within a half-hour of sunset.) I would also say that there is is no reason to assume the use of a cell phone. Simple lack of driving experience could have been the primary cause of such an accident. And I don't say that as a judgment to this young man. It's simply a fact that you have to experience many driving situations before you can begin to see several moves ahead (like the difference between a novice chess player and a world champion). It took a few minor scrapes and a few years before I became even a decent driver – but of course I thought I knew it all by 18. I've long told friends that the best experience one can have is a minor accident – with no serious injuries. It's not the mistakes that we make, but what we learn from them. I'm just glad to hear there were no serious injuries reported.
Tyree_C
27. Oct, 2009
Hmm…thanks. Sunrise at 7:41. 14-year-old children can drive to school under special circumstances. Yup, made an error or two my first year. Haven't hit a bus yet, though. Or, for that matter, anything or anyone else in just under five decades of driving. Knock on wood, of course, but I do make a special effort to drive defensively, with eyes on the road and sweeping the roadside for bicyclists, deer, and the odd pedestrian, and alert to the morons shooting out of alleyways in cars or on skates…so on and so forth. Hopefully, saying these things won't jinx me. As for piling it on, let's just call it getting his attention. After all, he could have driven slam-bang into your vehicle, which presumably is not as large as a bus, and harmed or killed someone you actually care about besides yourself.