New Kent Charles City Chronicle

News for New Kent County and Charles City County, Virginia | March 28, 2024

School bus struck by dump truck in view of NK deputy

By Alan Chamberlain | December 19, 2013 10:51 am

While a New Kent deputy sheriff looked on from his police cruiser, a dump truck crashed into the back of a county school bus, sending the bus driver and the lone student on board to a local hospital as a precautionary measure.

The Dec. 11 afternoon accident occurred on westbound Route 33, near the Eltham Auto Clinic business that is located west of the village of Eltham, just as the bus was making its final stop to discharge the last student on board.

New Kent Sheriff F.W. “Wakie” Howard Jr. said one of two sheriff’s cruisers that had been accompanying the bus as it made its run had just passed the bus while the second remained a short distance behind. The deputy in the second cruiser witnessed the accident.

Standard procedure, provided deputies are available, is to have sheriff’s cruisers accompany school buses that travel Route 33 through the Eltham area, the sheriff said.

“[Route 33] is probably the most patrolled area in our county,” he added, noting the high volume of traffic that travels along the four-lane highway. Incidents of motorists failing to stop for a school bus that is loading or discharging students occur frequently, most notably along the stretch of Route 33 that has no median strip and a 45-mile per hour speed limit. The speed limit is 55 miles per hour where the accident took place.

The bus driver, identified as Stephanie Parrish, and the one student remaining on board sustained minor injuries and were transported to a local hospital for observation, the sheriff said. The dump truck driver was not injured, he added.

Impact resulted in substantial rear end damage to the bus. Schools’ transportation director Stephen King said no damage figure has been ascertained, but added that considerable repair work will be needed to get the bus back on the road. An employee, however, was able to drive the bus from the accident scene to the school system’s bus garage at New Kent Courthouse.

The truck driver’s name along with the cause of the accident and possible charges have not been released. State police are conducting the investigation. Spokesman Sgt. Thomas Molnar said last week the investigating trooper was on leave.

Howard, however, said speculation among law enforcement officers at the accident scene centered on the possibility of charging the dump truck driver with reckless driving.

Just before deadline on Wednesday, Molnar sent an e-mail saying the investigating trooper has not returned from leave.