‘This could have been a lot worse’: Two students hurt after school bus T-boned by tractor trailer

Two students were hurt in a school bus crash near Seaforth that happened on a foggy morning. CTV London’s Scott Miller has the details.

A severely damaged school bus is towed from the scene by a tow truck, just a few hours after being T-boned by a tractor trailer north of Seaforth Wednesday morning.

“The tractor trailer hit the bus about midway up the frame and spun the bus right around. So, all three occupants of the bus were injured, thankfully with just minor injuries,” Const. Craig Soldan with the Huron County OPP said.

“They’ve been treated locally at the Seaforth Hospital. The driver of the truck received minor injuries, as well.”

The collision happened shortly after 8 a.m., after police say the school bus entered the intersection of North Line and Summerhill Road. There were only two high school students on the bus at the time of the collision, which closed a section of North Line for the entire morning.

“I understand the collision happened just after 8 a.m., so that may have been at the start of the pickup route. But yes, if the school bus was full of children on board, it could have been worse,” Soldan said.

“I did see earlier some of the windows had blown out of the side of the school bus, so glass all over, possibly. Just the fact the impact itself would have been quite a violent impact.”

It was extremely foggy at the time of the crash, say police, cancelling several, but not all school buses in Huron County.

“This could have been a lot worse. We do know that fog was a factor at the time. There was thick fog in the area, so that’ll be something we’re taking a look at, as part of our investigation,” said Soldan.

This isn’t the only school bus involved collision or crash this month in our region. A school bus carrying 40 children careened into a ditch near Woodstock two weeks ago.

That, along with more drivers running school bus stop signs, has prompted a school bus safety blitz by the West Region OPP this week.

“We’ve noted, I think in excess of 30 school bus related collisions in the last few months in our region alone. And it’s just so much damage and potential for injury here, and we just have to do something about it. So, the OPP is going to be out there, keeping an eye most definitely,” Soldan added.

There have been no charges laid yet as a result of this collision that police say could have been much worse, potentially fatal.

“It’s always very scary, because we know that there aren’t seatbelts in school busses either,” said Soldan.

“At that time of day, we really encourage drivers just to pay extra attention. Especially in inclement weather with fog, or heavy rain, or whatever the case may be.”