Bus, vehicle collision a “miracle” it wasn’t worse

Picture of siren

By Adam Strunk

A sports utility vehicle rear-ended a Hesston School Bus. The collision shaved off the vehicle’s top but left only one with minor injuries.
Patrol Sergeant Brandon Huntley, with the Harvey County Sheriff’s Department, worked the scene and said the crash occurred around 7 a.m. in the 6600 block of Hesston Road (Old 81).
He said a school bus stopped to pick up a student and put out its flashing signals and stop sign. He said a sports utility vehicle heading southbound ran into the back of the bus.
Huntly said the driver, 16, indicated they were distracted by the vehicle’s radio and didn’t see the bus in time to stop.
“It was a pretty nasty-looking wreck,” Huntley said. “That there were only minor injuries to the driver, it was a miracle.”
Huntley said the force of the collision resulted in the bus bumper shearing off the top of the SUV.
“If there was a passenger in there, we would have probably had a fatality,” he said.
An ambulance transported the driver of the SUV to a hospital to receive care for non-life-threatening injuries.
Only a student and driver were on the bus at the time of the collision. Huntley said neither were injured.

Hesston School District Superintendent Kevin Logan said estimates that the school bus, about 15 years old, received between $10-12,000 in damage. The district will turn the claim into insurance.

He said he was thankful for the quick response by emergency responders and law enforcement to the collision.

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