Icy Roads Cause Scores Of Wrecks

Snow, ice and freezing rain caused a series of vehicle accidents in the Spokane area on Friday, including two separate crashes involving school buses.

About 20 accidents, most of them minor, were reported Friday morning on Interstate 90 through Spokane, police spokesman Dick Cottam said.

The Washington State Patrol took more than 100 accident calls Friday night in Eastern Washington. The WSP closed I-90 east from Vantage and Ritzville due to several accidents.

During the day, in one school bus accident on the city’s North Side, a car ran a red light and struck the bus, according to Laurine Jue, a spokeswoman for School District 81. There were no injuries in the crash.

The accident occurred around 8:45 a.m. The students from Regal Elementary School were picked up by a second bus, she said.

Another crash occurred near Riverside High School in north Spokane County. A vehicle collided head-on with a school bus on Highway 2, according to the WSP.

The bus driver, Cheryl Evanson, 52, of Elk, suffered back injuries in the crash. The driver of the vehicle, Elwanda Groves, 49, of Newport suffered head and neck injuries in the crash. No students were injured.

, DataTimes