SCHOOL BUS CRASH REPORTS 2007

Students Injured In Morning Bus Crash
April 28, 2007

SHOREWOOD, Ill. (STNG) -- An accident on Friday morning involving a school bus on Illinois Route 59 sent three children from Troy Shorewood Elementary School to the hospital with minor injuries, officials said.

The accident occurred at about 8:30 a.m., when the driver of a car going south tried to make a U-turn and pulled in front of the bus, said Lt. Jeff Hanley.

The bus was carrying 37 students to the school, which educates students from Kindergarten to fourth grade.

As a precaution, the Troy Fire Protection District transported the three students to Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet because they complained of pain, Hanley said.

There were no visible injuries, he said.

The students were treated and released at the hospital and then sent home with their parents, said Al Gegenheimer, the business manager for the Troy School District. He was supervising the bus route at the school, at 210 School Road, on Friday because the school principal, Dan Malloy, was gone for the day.

Gegenheimer said that he and the school nurse rushed to the scene.

The accident occurred moments before classes were to begin and it happened about three-fourths of a mile south of the building, Gegenheimer said.

The district had to send another bus to transport the students to the school, Gegenheimer said. There was minor damage to the fender of the bus that will have to be repaired, he said.

Most students got to their classes by about 9:15 a.m., Gegenheimer said. At the school, a few students complained of pain and they were released to the custody of their parents to go to see a doctor, he said.

"Our staff and the paramedics are to be commended," Gegenheimer said. "The kids stayed calm because the bus driver was calm."

Hanley said that vehicles trying to make a U-turn at the location is a common traffic violation.

The site is just north of Interstate 55, where southbound traffic on Illinois 59 can merge onto the highway, he said.

Hanley said the driver of the car was Jose Puntilla, 23, of 717 Francis Ave., Joliet.

He was ticketed in connection with improper lane usage and driving without a valid license and he was released on his recognizance with a June 1 court date, Hanley said.

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