Banks school bus wreck injures four
Published 11:19 pm Thursday, January 21, 2010
Four were transported to Troy Regional Medical Center Thursday, after a pickup truck collided with a Pike County School bus in Banks.
Around 7:15 a.m. Thursday, a 17-year-old driving a 1983 Chevrolet truck, rear-ended a Pike County school bus on Highway 29, said Alabama Trooper Spokesman Kevin Cook.
The bus was stopped at the time of the incident, preparing to turn left.
Pike County Sheriff Russell Thomas said the bus had the proper signals on at the time of the incident.
Cook said three of the students on the school bus were taken to TRMC with injuries, as well as the passenger of the pickup truck.
Pike County Superintendent Mark Bazzell said the bus was in route to Banks School and Pike County High School. Those transported to the hospital were middle school aged students.
“There were 19 students on the bus, and of those, six were from Pike County High School and the rest were from Banks,” Bazzell said. “All three treated were from Banks.”
Bazzell said following the incident, students were taken to school and given the chance to contact their parents.
“Parents were welcome to come see them, and there were a few that checked out this morning,” he said. “That’s a procedure we usually follow in cases like this.”
Bazzell said a school nurse was also on hand to make sure there were no further injuries.
While there were some students taken to TRMC, Bazzell said the injuries did not appear to be too significant.
“We’re fortunate there does not appear to be any serious injuries,” Bazzell said.
Thomas said he was unsure what factors were involved in the wreck, but the weather was rainy early Thursday and through the night Wednesday.
“I’m not sure if speed was a factor,” Thomas said. “The conditions of the road surely contributed.”
Bazzell said it is important residents use caution when traveling in Pike County, particularly in the morning and afternoon hours.
“We have about 33 busses on the road from 6:15 to 8, and in the afternoons beginning a little before 3 until 4:30,” Bazzell said. “We ask people to be careful during those times in particular.”