SCHOOL BUS CRASH REPORTS 2007

School Bus Rollover Knots Route 9 Traffic
April 30, 2007

KILLINGWORTH - A school bus flipped over and landed on its roof on Route 9 northbound Monday afternoon sending four people to the hospital for treatment of what officials said were "very minor injuries."

The one-vehicle accident between Exits 9 and 10, however, caused traffic to be backed up for hours on Routes 9, 81 and 154.

The bus was carrying the junior varsity lacrosse team from the Williams School, a grade 7-to-12 institution in New London, to a 4 p.m. game against Chase Collegiate School in Waterbury.

The bus had 15 students, all under age 16, and a driver on it at the time of the accident. According to state police Master Sgt. Fred Peters, four students were taken to area hospitals, including Hartford, Middlesex and the Shoreline Medical Center. They all suffered "cuts and bruises," Peters said.

Police reported that all 15 students were taken to hospitals because of their young ages.
Investigating into the cause of the accident continues. Police said they do know that the bus driver at some point lost control of vehicle as it flipped completely over coming to rest on its roof.

At approximately 3 p.m., all four northbound lanes of Route 9 were shut down. The lanes were reopened around 6 p.m.

Williams school released a the following statement on its Web site:

"All members of the Williams School Boys JV/Middle School Lacrosse team are safe following a bus accident enroute to their match this afternoon. Fifteen of the players were taken to area hospitals as a safety precaution," the message read. "Some players were treated for minor injuries. School administrators contacted the team members' families directly before mobilizing to visit each of the area hospitals."

The incident comes less than two months after a March 2 accident in Atlanta that killed seven people, including five members of the Bluffton (Ohio) University baseball team. Twenty-eight were injured.

Investigators said the bus driver apparently mistook the ramp for a regular highway lane, traveling up it at "highway speeds." The bus than crashed into a concrete barrier at a T-intersection at the top of the ramp, flipped off the overpass and fell 30 feet back onto Interstate 75.

An Associated Press report is included in this story.

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