14 students and a bus driver were transported to the hospital following a school bus accident in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Driver Flees Scene After Causing Four-Vehicle Collision
According to WPVI, the accident occurred on Route 30 at Route 896 around 8 am Wednesday.
Authorities say the crash happened when a vehicle crashed with a tractor-trailer hauling a large pre-fabricated home then spun and struck a school bus. The impact caused the school bus to overturn. A fourth vehicle, a small SUV marked as a construction escort vehicle, then struck the tractor-trailer.
The vehicle responsible for initiating the chain-reaction accident fled the scene, and police are currently in search of the vehicle.
The school bus was carrying students between the age of 13- and 16-years-old. 14 of the students were transported to Lancaster General Hospital as was the school bus driver. At least one of the students was airlifted to the facility.
School Transportation Accident Statistics
- According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were 1,344 people killed in school-transportation-related crashes recorded between 2004 and 2013. This averages to 134 fatalities per year.
- Of the 1,344 fatalities, only 8 percent were occupants of school transportation vehicles.
- Most (71%) of the people who lost their lives in these crashes were occupants of other vehicles involved in the crashes.
- Nonoccupants, including pedestrians, bicyclists, etc., accounted for 21 percent of the fatalities.
- Among the 106 occupants killed in school transportation vehicles between 2004 and 2013, 45 were drivers and 61 were passengers.
