Passing driver runs school bus off road

The Daily Inter Lake

A Columbia Falls school district bus carrying 33 elementary and junior high school students was run off the road Monday morning near the intersection of Montana 206 and Rogers Road.

The 67-year-old bus driver was taken to North Valley Hospital in Whitefish with minor injuries and one student complained of a bump on the head.

No one else was injured.

The School District 6 bus was northbound on Montana 206 at about 7:40 a.m. when an oncoming pickup truck crossed the center line, forcing the bus driver to swerve into the ditch to avoid a collision, according to the Montana Highway Patrol.

As the school bus entered the ditch, the driver was able to keep it upright. No other cars were involved.

The driver of the pickup truck left the scene, but highway patrol troopers were able to track him down and cite the 38-year-old man with careless driving.

The Montana Highway Patrol and Three Rivers EMS responded to the scene.