GARDEN GROVE : Argument Ends in School Bus Crash

A 41-year-old Stanton man wrecked an empty school bus during a heated exchange with three passengers of a pickup truck on the Garden Grove Freeway on Friday, the California Highway Patrol said.

The incident occurred about 9:10 a.m. in Garden Grove, directly on the Trask Avenue overpass on the freeway’s westbound lanes.

CHP Officer Lyle Whitten said the accident stemmed from a lane change that the bus driver made on Newhope Street. “Three men in a pickup yelled that he had cut them off,” Whitten said. “When he entered the freeway, the pickup stayed along the left side of him with the three men displaying obscene hand gestures and yelling obscenities.”

The bus driver engaged in an argument with the three men and motioned for them to pull over to the shoulder, Whitten said.

“As he was talking to them, he veered to the right shoulder,” striking an abandoned 1966 Dodge pickup, Whitten said.

“Both the school bus and the disabled pickup were totaled,” Whitten added. “We were pretty fortunate that the school bus was empty. It could have been uglier.”

The bus is operated for the Garden Grove School District.

Whitten said no citations have been issued, adding that the driver of the pickup sped away.

“This is happening much too often,” Whitten said. “We always advise that when people show you obscene hand gestures, forget them and go your merry way.” The investigation is continuing.