School bus driver, adult aide hurt in Newtown Twp. crash
The bus was headed to pick up students with disabilities and special needs. The driver of the truck and a passenger were not hurt.
A school bus heading to pick up summer-school students with disabilities and special needs crashed into a broken-down truck in Newtown Township on Thursday afternoon, injuring the driver and adult monitor.
The 20-passenger bus was heading east on the Newtown Bypass just after 2 p.m., when it hit a concrete bridge wall, police said. The bus then "rode the guardrail" about 20 yards and crashed into the back of a furniture truck, police said.
The impact collapsed the front of the bus, trapping the driver. Rescue workers cut her out, and she was taken by helicopter to an area hospital. The aide also was hospitalized. The women's names and conditions were not available.
The women work for the First Student transportation company, based in Cincinnati, which provides busing for several districts in Bucks County. The bus was contracted by Bucks County Intermediate Unit 22, to take students to and from Benjamin Rush Elementary School in Bensalem, said JoAnn Perotti, IU director of student services.
The driver of the box truck, Alfonso Rodriguez, and a passenger, Israel Jimenez, were not hurt.
Jimenez said the truck had just broken down on the four-lane bypass around Newtown Borough, and was parked on the shoulder of the eastbound lanes when the bus crashed into it. They had been making deliveries for Mealey's Furniture and were headed to the company's Morrisville warehouse, Jimenez said.