Schoolchildren Hurt When Bus, SUV Collide

More than a dozen middle-school students were injured Friday in a collision of an SUV and a school bus in Rancho Cucamonga, authorities said.

One student was taken to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton with moderate injuries; nine were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries, said California Highway Patrol Officer Sean Cooper.

About 7:44 a.m., a bus carrying 49 students to Day Creek Intermediate School was heading east on Victoria Park Lane. A Chevrolet Suburban heading west made a left turn at Rochester Avenue, and the vehicles collided, Cooper said.

The school bus hit a fire hydrant and stopped just short of a control box that directs traffic signals, spraying rocks and dirt on the street, he said. Authorities were investigating whether the SUV made the turn without yielding to the bus, neither of which appeared to be speeding, Cooper said.

About half a dozen students were treated on the scene by Rancho Cucamonga paramedics.

“Last year I would not let my son walk to school .... People drive too erratically here,” said Sandra Wilson, 48, who lives in the neighborhood and was comforting children at the crash site.

The SUV driver, identified as Gerald Terrones, 18, of Rancho Cucamonga was taken to Arrowhead medical center with moderate injuries to his lower body. He was expected to be released by Friday night.

The bus driver, John Tuggle, 55, who has been with the Etiwanda School District for about a decade, was taken to Chino Valley Medical Center after reporting that he might have cracked a rib on the steering wheel, said Steven T. Escher, district director of transportation.

Cooper said two other vehicles made left turns at Rochester before the SUV, but authorities don’t think either vehicle played a role in the accident.

maeve.reston@latimes.com; ashley.powers@latimes.com