Girl Dies in School Bus Accident : Traffic: The crash in San Diego County injures 13 other students. Several collisions have occurred at the intersection since a traffic light was installed there three months ago.

At an intersection beset by problems since a traffic light was installed there, a motor home plowed into the rear corner of a school bus taking junior high students home Tuesday afternoon, killing one girl and injuring 13 other students.

Jennifer Loscher, 13, of San Marcos, who had been sitting in the back of the bus, was pronounced dead on arrival at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido. “She was just a doll. She was just perfect,” her longtime baby-sitter said.

The 13 students who were hurt were taken to area hospitals. All were in either good or fair condition late Tuesday, though two of the 13 suffered serious cuts, hospital officials said. Neither driver was hurt.

The crash terrified students aboard the bus.

“People panicked and were afraid their friends would die, or something,” said Craig Audibert, 12, of San Marcos.

It remained unclear who was at fault in the crash, which occurred about 1:50 p.m. as the bus was taking 26 San Marcos Junior High seventh- and eighth-graders home from school, about two miles away. The California Highway Patrol said the driver of the motor home, Jamie Pyer, 18, of San Marcos, was traveling within the speed limit and had a green light.

It was uncertain, officers said, whether the bus, driven by Dawn Wynne, 36, of Vista, had the right of way. “Our predicament is that at this time we’re determining who had the right of way,” Officer Jerry Bohrer said. “We’re trying to put everything together.”

Several minor accidents have occurred in the three months since a traffic light was installed at Mulberry Drive and Mission Road, where the accident occurred, San Marcos City Manager Rick Gittings said. The new light was part of a yearlong, $5-million project to expand Mission Road to six lanes.

The light controlling the turn north onto Mulberry Drive from eastbound Mission Road is “rather unusual,” CHP Officer Phil Konstantin said. A driver can see either a green left-turn arrow, which means oncoming traffic must stop, or a regular green light, which gives oncoming traffic the right of way but still permits a left turn.

Klaas Behaan, an executive of Hollandia Dairy, located at the corner, said he has seen at least one accident a week at the intersection since the light was installed.

“I was inside when I heard what sounded like a regular bang, because we’ve been having so many recently,” Behaan said. “Then I walked out and saw the school bus. Then I saw the kids.”

According to the CHP, the bus was turning north onto Mulberry Drive from eastbound Mission Road. The oncoming motor home, traveling west about 50 m.p.h., hit the right rear corner of the bus as it made the turn, Konstantin said.

“We were turning the corner and a motor home hit us,” said Heather Townsend, 12, of San Marcos, one of the students on the bus, which was about half-full. “There was a big bang. I was scared. I thought maybe the bus was going to catch on fire.”

There was no fire, but the impact killed Loscher. She was pronounced dead at the hospital, where her baby-sitter, Traci Barnhill, 24, went to mourn. Jennifer used to “talk about how I baby-sat her when (she) was little. She also said she would like to baby-sit my baby one day,” Barnhill said, beginning to cry. “She never did.”

Jennifer was the daughter of San Marcos City Councilman Mark Loscher.

The 13 injured students were taken to Palomar, Tri-City and Children’s hospitals. The 12 students who were not hurt were taken to San Marcos Fire Station 1, where they were picked up by their parents.

“When you see the back side of the bus all opened up, you could tell there was significant impact,” Larry Maw, superintendent of San Marcos Unified School District, said. “It’s traumatic just to look at it.”

Times staff writers H.G. Reza, Ray Tessler and John H. Lee contributed to this story.

Fatal Crash

A 13-year-old girl was killed and 13 other students were injured when a school bus collided with a motor home Tuesday afternoon. The bus was carrying 26 San Marcos Junior High School students.