Two CM school busses crash within hours of each other
Two Canon-McMillan school buses crashed within four hours of each other the morning of Nov. 15, leaving five students injured in the second accident.
The second crash occurred about 11:30 a.m. on Route 519 near a railroad crossing in Houston when a vehicle struck the rear of the bus, a Washington County emergency dispatcher said.
Five students were taken to Washington Hospital with unspecified injuries, the dispatcher said. Houston police and school district officials did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment on the crash.
It was the second accident of the morning involving a Canon-McMillan school bus, after another vehicle crashed about a mile away on South Central Avenue at Garden Street at 7:20 a.m. None of the 27 high school students on board that bus was injured when the driver lost control and crashed into two street signs and a parked car, North Strabane police Officer Matt Mancini said.
Investigators think the bus driver, Dave Brown, may have suffered a medical problem that caused him to lose control. Brown, of Canonsburg, suffered a minor elbow injury and was taken to Canonsburg Hospital for precautionary reasons, police said.
Mancini said they are continuing to investigate but don’t expect to file charges against the driver in the first crash. He said Brown has a “stellar record” while driving for the school district for the past 20 years. The parked car was unoccupied and sustained heavy damage in the crash, Mancini said.
Canon-McMillan Superintendent Michael Daniels went to the scene after learning of the crash, district officials said. He could not be reached for comment to discuss the two crashes.