SCHOOL BUS CRASH REPORTS 2007

Students Hospitalized After Bus Flips on Rt. 9
May 1, 2007

KILLINGWORTH - A school bus carrying a prep school lacrosse team flipped over onto its roof Monday afternoon, sending four students to the hospital with "very minor injuries."

The accident closed a portion of northbound Route 9 for hours; traffic was diverted onto Routes 81 and 154 and quickly became backed up.

At press time, state police at the Troop F barracks in Westbrook were still investigating the cause of the accident, which occurred at roughly 3 p.m. between Exits 9 and 10 on northbound Route 9, which is in the vicinity of Killingworth and Haddam.

The bus was taking the junior-varsity lacrosse team from The Williams School in New London to a 4 p.m. game in Waterbury against the team from the Chase Collegiate School.
The bus was carrying 15 students and a driver at the time, according to state police Master Sgt. Fred Peters.

Police said all the students were taken to three area hospitals - Hartford, Middlesex and the Shoreline Medical Center in Essex - as a precaution. Four of the students were treated for "cuts and bruises," Peters said.

All the students are under the age of 16, he added.

At press time, the police still did not know what caused the driver to lose control of the bus. When he did, the bus completely flipped over and came to rest on its roof. The bus was the only vehicle involved in the accident, police said.

Officials from TheWilliams School released a statement on the school's Web site about the accident.

"All members of The Williams School Boys JV/Middle School Lacrosse team are safe following a bus accident en route to their match (Monday) 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 statement said.

The statement also said all the students' belongings had been removed from the accident scene and returned to the school.

Beginning at approximately 3 p.m., the two northbound lanes of Route 9 were shut down, and traffic was diverted off the highway at Exit 9.

The two southbound lanes remained open throughout the afternoon.

At 4 p.m., the state police allowed the traffic that was caught behind the accident to turn around, go back and get off at Exit 9.

However, diverting the heavy volume of traffic onto Routes 81 and 154 quickly caused both roads to back up.

Traffic was backed up on Route 81 north into Higganum Center until after 6 p.m. southbound traffic was also backed up on Route 154 from Higganum Center to Airport Road in Middletown.

Jerry Manware, a Killing-worth fire/police officer, heard about the accident over his radio and came to help direct traffic. Manware, who has been working with traffic control for the past 15 to 20 years, advised motorists not to rush when they are trapped in stop-and-go traffic.
"The best thing to do is to sit back and listen to the directions from the police," said Manware.

He said if there is an accident on the highway, motorists who are caught behind the accident are basically "stuck."

"They are locked in," Manware said. He added that it is important to stay out of the emergency breakdown lane. He said the ambulances headed to Monday's scene encountered problems because motor vehicles were stopped in the breakdown lanes.
Manware said about nine ambulances were called to the scene, and the Haddam Volun-teer Fire Department and South Fire District in Middletown responded as well.

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