School Bus Collision Injures 11

A pickup truck carrying three teens on their way to Simi Valley High School and a school bus full of special-education students collided Tuesday morning, sending 11 people to the hospital with minor to moderate injuries.

The crash occurred at the intersection of Cochran and Stearns streets just before 7:30 a.m., said California Highway Patrol spokesman Dave Webb.

The Simi Valley Unified School District bus carrying eight special-education students and one instructional aide was heading west on Cochran toward Mountain View Elementary and Hillside Middle schools, authorities said.

As the bus driver, 32-year-old Simi Valley resident Laura Eaton, prepared to make a left turn onto Stearns, the signal turned yellow, Webb said. At the same time, a white GMC pickup coming in the opposite direction and driven by a 16-year-old Simi Valley boy continued through the intersection and slammed into the right side of the bus.

The impact caused Eaton to lose control, which sent the bus spinning across the intersection, Webb said. It struck a Dodge pickup truck, then overturned onto a white Nissan Altima that was stopped on Stearns waiting at the red light.

“It looks like a tremendous crash; we’re very fortunate there were no major injuries,” Webb said.

A hospital representative said injuries included a fractured hip, a fractured wrist, a bloody mouth, scrapes and bruises.

The GMC truck also carried two 16-year-old passengers, Webb said. The driver sustained a broken wrist and the other two students were treated for minor injuries. Police were investigating whether it was legal for the teenage passengers to be in the truck with a 16-year-old driver, Webb said. Under state law, new drivers must wait six months before transporting underage passengers.

Three of the eight children on the bus were unharmed; the other five were taken to Simi Valley Hospital with minor to moderate injuries, authorities said. Eaton, the instructional aide and the driver of the Nissan also were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

Lowell Schultze, assistant superintendent of business services for Simi Valley Unified, said all special-education buses are equipped with seat belts. Authorities have not yet determined if all the children were wearing them at the time of the crash.

District officials called the students’ parents and sent administrators from the district and the two schools to Simi Valley Hospital to assist the families.

Parents praised school officials for their response.

“I was called immediately,” said David McAlister, whose 9-year-old son, Kyle, suffered a minor shoulder injury. “His teachers showed up here, his counselor, the principal. . . . Everybody’s been fantastic.”

As McAlister spoke, Kyle stood cradling a teddy bear, a gift from the hospital, complete with a sling over its paw to match the one on the fourth-grader’s arm.

Linda Fults, another parent, said she was grateful that all the injuries were minor.

Fults said her son, Eric, 14, suffered a small bump on the head when his forehead hit a side window as the bus tumbled. He left the hospital wearing a bandage and carrying a bear. “But he’s fine,” she said. “He’s doing great.”

Eaton, who has worked for the school district for a year and a half, said Tuesday evening that she has a good driving record.

She said she was told not to comment on details of the accident, but said it was frightening. “It really ached me to see the kids so traumatized,” she said.

But the children’s injuries could have been far worse if the vehicle had not fallen onto the Nissan, she said.

No arrests were made Tuesday as authorities continued to analyze the scene, Webb said.