Kids OK; bus driver cited in crash

A school bus driver was cited after a collision with a tractor-trailer on U.S. 93 Wednesday afternoon that left two people in the semi with minor injuries.

The 11 students and the driver on the bus were not injured.

“Numerous witnesses on all sides of the crash scene all said the same thing — that the school bus driver ran the red light,” Montana Highway Patrol Trooper John Underwood said.

The driver of the bus was cited for failure to yield the right of way. Her identity has not been released.

The bus had just dropped off four Flathead High School students at the convenience store at the intersection of U.S. 93 and Montana 82.

According to Underwood, the bus driver said that she thought she had a green light and pulled into the intersection to head toward Bigfork. A northbound semi-truck driven by a Kalispell man actually had the green light and was already halfway into the intersection.

He tried unsuccessfully to avoid a collision.

One parent, Joseph Olson, praised the truck driver in a post on the Inter Lake’s Facebook page:

“All parents of children that were on that school bus (and that includes me, I had 2) should be thanking the truck driver. He went above and beyond what was needed to make sure he didn’t hit that bus. If it wasn’t for him, instead of the front of the bus being clipped, it would have been a full 90-degree T-bone. Everyone say a prayer and a thank you to the two men in that truck today!”

The bus struck the end of the semi-trailer, which spun 180 degrees and overturned.

The driver and a passenger in the truck sustained some minor injuries, but refused medical aid at the scene.

The students and bus driver were checked by emergency personnel at the scene. All were fine physically, with the exception of one who reported some minor pain, but did not require treatment.

The students, however, were shaken emotionally.

Students Angelia and Elora Byrd burst into tears when asked what happened. They said it was difficult to be sure exactly how the accident had occurred.

“They hit the front really hard,” Angelia said.

However, the students at the scene spoke endearingly of their driver. “She is a really great bus driver,” mother Heidi Byrd said.

The bus was contracted through Harlow’s Bus Service for Kalispell Public Schools.

A local representative for Harlow’s did not have permission to give a statement for the company.

The representative did say that a bus from Treasure State Transit was passing through the area and gave rides home to the children who weren’t picked up by their parents a ride home.

The representative said the crash is the worst one Harlow’s has had in recent memory.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.