Rockland County, NY +Palisades Parkway MVA With Bus+
Rockland County, NY +Palisades Parkway MVA With Bus+ A motor vehicle accident with an occupied school bus on the Palisades Interstate Parkway near exit 11 with wires down on the bus, Ramapo sending all services.
posted by VOS IZ NEIAS @ 4/07/2006 03:01:00 PM
2 Comments:
At 3:18 PM,
Anonymous said…
Was Hatzoloh dispatched ?
At 2:17 AM,
Anonymous said…
NEW CITY — Four people suffered minor injuries yesterday when a sport utility vehicle crashed into a utility pole that snapped and fell onto a school bus with 22 children on board.
Two 7-year-olds and the driver and passenger of the SUV were taken to Nyack Hospital, Ramapo police said.
The accident occurred on New Hempstead Road near the Exit 11 ramp from the southbound Palisades Interstate Parkway. New Hempstead Road was shut down between Route 45 and the Exit 11 ramp from the northbound parkway.
Police were still investigating, but Sgt. Mark Briggs said at the scene that it appeared the southbound SUV traveled down the ramp, then in the wrong lane toward traffic on New Hempstead Road before hitting the roadside pole.
"The SUV did strike the pole, causing the pole to break," he said.
The pole, which held a streetlight and power and telephone lines, then landed on the roof of the bus. Part of the pole was sticking over the driver's side, and the top of it had snapped, apparently because it was top-heavy, Briggs said.
"We're continuing the investigation as to why the SUV went through," Briggs said. "It doesn't appear the bus did anything wrong."
The bus was taking children home from Summit Park Elementary School in New City. Students in kindergarten through third grade attend the school.
Police and emergency crews responded, as did transportation and school officials from Summit Park Elementary and the East Ramapo school district.
Brian Molloy, director of transportation for the district, said it appeared most of the children had been wearing their seat belts.
"They were jostled some, but no one was seriously injured," Molloy said.
A girl and a boy, both 7, were taken by the Spring Hill Ambulance Corps to Nyack Hospital, Ramapo police said. The 63-year-old male driver of the 1997 Ford Explorer and a 28-year-old male passenger were taken by Chevra Hatzoloh of Rockland County to the same hospital, police said.
Molloy said the bus driver realized something was wrong.
"She had the green light," Molloy said. "She saw the SUV coming into her lane. She stopped the bus."
Molloy said police helped evacuate the children from the back of the bus. They instructed the children to keep their hands in the air as a precaution, since the status of the power lines on the bus was not certain, he said.
The driver looked under every seat to make sure all the children had gotten off, and she was the last person to exit the bus, Molloy said.
"She was very shaken up, but she is fine," Molloy said.
Orange and Rockland Utilities spokesman Michael Donovan said the company received an unconfirmed report about a bus accident and immediately reacted.
"It was less than two minutes between the time we found out there was an accident and we pulled the plug on that circuit," Donovan said.
A large burn mark could be seen on the driver's side of the bus yesterday.
"The children were safely evacuated from the rear of the bus," Briggs said.
They were placed onto a second bus called to the scene and transported home, Molloy said.
Summit Park Elementary administrators called the children's parents to alert them to the accident. Several came to the scene, but left immediately after police told them their children were on their way home.
William Gillespie was home watching television when he heard the accident.
"I heard, like, a bang," Gillespie said. "Really loud. I thought maybe it was a transformer."
He soon heard sirens and came out of his home, got into his car and saw the accident as he drove out of his neighborhood. By that time, he said, emergency crews had arrived.
Donovan said 1,864 O&R customers were without power just after the accident. Only 650 were still awaiting service at 4:30 p.m. Donovan said workers rerouted the system to restore service even though repairs had not been completed.
Hillcrest Fire Department volunteers responded, and state police assisted Ramapo officers
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