SCHOOL BUS CRASH REPORTS 2007

3 Badly Hurt In School Bus-Truck Crash
May 31, 2007

New York - A school bus taking 10 Le Roy High School students and three school staff members to a field trip smashed into the back of a dump truck Wednesday morning in the Town of Batavia, leaving three people in serious condition, state troopers and school officials said.

Bus driver John Peck, 69, was westbound on Route 33 en route to an outing at a Corfu veterinary clinic, when a truck in front of the bus attempted to make a left turn onto Wortendyke Road at about 10:30 a.m., said State Police spokeswoman Rebecca Gibbons.

Peck attempted to swerve around the truck but crashed into the back of it.

"It was totaled," said Chief Bob Yungfleisch of the East Pembroke Volunteer Fire Department. "It was wrapped around the driver. It pushed right into him."

Yungfleisch's firefighters spent 35 minutes cutting through the crumpled front of the bus with a "Jaws of Life" device to extricate Peck, who remained conscious throughout the ordeal.

Firefighters also cut away a row of seats to get to two other injured passengers -- Jeremy Perry, an 18-year-old student, and Sue Lawrence, a 31-year-old school staff member.

Perry told paramedics that he was experiencing back pain, and Lawrence was believed to have broken her hip.

Because of the extent of their injuries, all three were transported by separate Mercy Flight helicopters to Erie County Medical Center, Buffalo, for treatment, said Mercy Flight General Manager Greg Gill.

None of their injuries was considered life-threatening.

Ten other passengers were taken by ambulance to United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia for treatment, according to Genesee County Emergency Coordinator Tim Yaeger.

The driver of the dump truck, Robert Tompkins, was not injured in the crash.

"You have a few of these school bus accidents every year -- most of those are minor fender benders," said Yaeger. "But we've had nothing to this extent. This is fairly rare."

Le Roy Central School District officials said the parents of all of the students involved in the accident had been notified by about noon.

State troopers were investigating the accident, and officials said charges are pending further investigation.

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