No serious injuries as pickup hits football bus
A school bus carrying 45 Marysville High School football players and two coaches was hit by a pickup truck Friday night while returning from their game against Hilliard Bradley, the State Highway Patrol said.
No one on the bus was injured in the crash, which happened at 10:16 p.m. at the intersection of Route 42 and Converse Huff Road just outside of Plain City near the Union/madison County line. The driver of the pickup, which the patrol said hit the bus at the intersection, was transported to Ohiohealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, but was not seriously injured.
A dispatcher at the Ohio Highway Patrol's West Jefferson post said a copy of the traffic crash report was not available Saturday morning, and could not provide further details, including the names of the drivers. An investigation into the cause of the accident is continuing
But Marysville Superintendent Diane Allen, who rushed to the scene of the crash, said Saturday that witnesses told her the bus driver, Rick Spence, should be credited with saving the lives of those aboard the bus.
“I was told that our bus driver masterfully kept that bus from flipping over,” Allen said.
Allen said initial indications are that the pickup driver ran a stop sign, T-boning the bus near the front and sending it careering across a lane of traffic, through a ditch and into a field.
Another bus carrying other team members and coaches was ahead of the bus that was hit and someone saw the sparks from an electric transformer that blew from the crash, bringing down power lines. That bus stopped, Allen said, and a coach ran back immediately to check on everyone.
Parents were notified, and a replacement bus was brought to the scene to take the students involved back to Marysville High School.
Allen said she feels blessed that no one on the bus was injured, and she hopes the driver of the pickup truck will be OK.
“In a school year that has been less than optimal for a lot of reasons,” she said, “this reminded all of us — even myself — of what's really important.” hzachariah@dispatch.com @hollyzachariah