Collision with school bus is third recent altercation

WASILLA — Three Mat-Su Borough School District students escaped injury Monday after a car hit the bus they were riding in head-on.

The accident happened mid-afternoon on Grumman Circle, which branches off the Seldon and Bogard roads intersection.

Central Mat-Su Fire Department Deputy Chief Michael Keenan said a PT Cruiser struck the school bus where the road curves. The accident occurred when the bus was rounding the curve where the road narrows, Alaska State Troopers Spokeswoman Megan Peters said.

Apparently, the driver of the PT Cruiser hit the brakes when she saw the bus and began to slide, she said. The result was a low-speed head-on collision.

No one was taken to the hospital, although Keenan said the driver of the school bus, who was not named as of press time, complained of a sore wrist. The female driver of the PT Cruiser was cited for failure to exercise due care for the road conditions.

The students who escaped injury were aboard a special-needs bus, district Spokeswoman Catherine Esary said. Two were in wheelchairs.

“The EMTs did check them out, but the kids were fine,” Esary said.

This is at least the third bus accident with a passenger car since the school year began, and Esary said drivers should remember that Monday through Friday buses are on the road in the mornings and afternoons.

“When the buses are out, people need to be more careful,” Esary said.

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.