Two children and a school bus driver were transported to the hospital with minor injuries early Friday morning when a Southeast Local Schools bus veered off the road to avoid hitting another vehicle.
Four additional students also sustained what the Ohio State Highway Patrol characterized as “minor injuries,” but were not transported to University Hospitals Portage Medical Center.
The incident occurred at 7:09 a.m. Nov. 22 on the 10600 block of Scotts Corners Road, near the intersection of Williams Road in Palmyra Township, Palmyra Township Fire Chief Mark Garvin said. Southeast school bus No. 30 was carrying 27 middle and high school students and was heading northwest toward the Southeast campus.
According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, an unknown vehicle was heading southeast on Scotts Corners Road and traveled left of center.
Southeast Superintendent Bob Dunn said authorities are still trying to determine the make and model of the dark-colored vehicle that triggered the accident.
Camera footage shows the vehicle “too far in the middle of the road,” Dunn said. “The [bus] driver, in order to avoid a crash, had to go off the road to the right and kind of got caught in the mud and slid. It had a little bit of a dropoff, so that’s where the bumpiness came.”
The bus driver kept her vehicle upright, bringing it to rest in a yard, the OSHP press release stated.
“She did a great job,” Dunn said. “The driver was tremendous with the kids, and the decision she made might have been life-saving. She made a great decision to get the bus off the road safely and that was the right decision.”
The driver of the other vehicle did not stop, continuing its southeast trek on Scotts Corners Road, Dunn and the OSHP press release stated.
“We’re trying to find someone that maybe has a better knowledge of vehicles, maybe a make and model estimation, but it’s really dark,” Dunn said. “We can make out a couple of the letters on the license plate, but certainly can’t make out the whole thing.”
The camera footage has been turned over to the state highway patrol in hopes the vehicle and driver can be identified.
Dunn said he is relieved that the incident was not more serious.
“It certainly could have been, if the driver would [have] hit a tree or something, or God forbid, we would have hit the person head-on,” he said.
Besides the Ohio State Highway Patrol, first responders from the Portage County Sheriff’s Office and the Deerfield, Palmyra, Edinburg and Atwater fire departments were on scene.
Dunn said the bus driver, Kelly D. Rouse of Ravenna, was not injured, but was taken to UHPMC for evaluation. She and the students were treated and released later Friday, Dunn said.
The school bus was not damaged at all, the OSHP press release stated.
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.