Four students hurt in Farmington crash technical schools maine,
FARMINGTON -- Four middle and high school students were taken to the hospital with minor injuries after the bus they were on Tuesday afternoon collided with a tractor-trailer on a slick stretch of U.S. Route 2.
Emergency responders also assessed the 10 other students, found them unhurt and released them to parents who had rushed to the scene, Tanner said. Three of the students were taken home in another school bus.
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The collision sent the bus skidding backwards nearly 30 feet, leaving the windshield cracked and most of the flat frontend heavily dented, Tanner said.
The school bus did not have its red stop sign and lights engaged at the time of the crash. If it had, other laws may have applied, Tanner said.
Superintendent Michael Cormier said the bus was carrying students from the districts middle school and high school, both in Farmington. Tanner and Cormier did not know details about the students hometowns, saying all parents were notified Tuesday afternoon.
School district officials plan to keep in contact with parents of students involved in the crash, Cormier said.
The four students taken by ambulance to Franklin Memorial Hospital had minor cuts and bruises. They ranged in age from 12 to 18 and were able to walk off the school bus to get into the ambulances after the crash, he said.
Cormier would not discuss safety features of the school bus involved in the crash. Tanner said the school bus has safety harnesses on a small number of seats for children who are younger than those riding during the crash.
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Just before the crash, the bus driver, Gerard Simard, 71, of Jay, had stopped at a stop sign on High Street and was turning right onto Farmington Falls Road to make a routine drop-off near the intersection, Tanner said.
Maine Today Photo StoreThere were 14 students from Mt. Blue Regional School District 9 on the bus when it was hit around 2:50 p.m. at the intersection of High Street and Farmington Falls Road (U.S. Route 2), police Officer William Tanner said.
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Tanner spoke with every student on the bus immediately after the crash. He described them later as being shaken up, but in good spirits.
click image to enlargeCOLLISION: Maine State Police Trooper Bernard Brunette inspects a loaded tractor-trailer that was involved in a collision with a school bus in Farmington on Tuesday. The driver of the truck, Michael Matheny, is speaking on a cellphone.Staff photo by David Leaming
Staff Writer, Morning Sentinel
The tractor-trailer driver, Michael Matheny, 39, of Barberton, Ohio, told police he intentionally swerved across the center line to avoid hitting the truck and couldnt stop the rig before hitting the bus, Tanner said.
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click image to enlargeHEAD ON: Maine State Police Trooper Derek Record gestures to a bus driver while conducting an inspection after the bus and a tractor-trailer collided in Farmington on Tuesday, injuring four students.Staff photo by David Leaming
Simard banged his leg in the crash and refused treatment at the scene, wFour students hurt in Farmington crash technical schools mainehich is a short distance from downtown Farmington. Matheny, who rtechnical schools maineefused to comment at the scene, was unhurt, Tanner said.
Tanner believes slick road conditions caused the crash. The school bus had its yellow caution lights on and was stopping to drop off a student when it was struck head-on by the tractor-trailer, which was loaded with logs and swerved to avoid hitting a pickup truck before the collision, Tanner said.
Two investigators from the Maine State Police division dedicated to commercial driving issues assisted at the scene. Fire and ambulance services from Farmington also responded to the crash, which closed the section of road for more than an hour.
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Tanner does not expect to issue tickets related to the crash, saying Matheny was traveling too st for the road conditions, but not st enough to warrant a ticket. There were no issues with poor driving records, licenses or vehicle inspections for either driver, he said.
State police investigators estimated the tractor-trailer, which is owned by F.W. Madden Co., of Akron, Ohio, was traveling no ster than 30 mph before the crash, which occurred in a 45 mph zone, Tanner said.
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An oncoming pickup truck, headed east on Farmington Falls Road, stopped for the buss yellow caution lights and the tractor trailer behind the truck didnt stop in time, sliding on the icy road before veering across the center line and smashing into the bus, Tanner said.
