Driver killed when car hits school bus

An Oregon woman was killed Tuesday afternoon when she apparently pulled her car in front of a Mead School District bus that was occupied by 24 students.

The bus driver and students, who were from Mead Middle School and Mt. Spokane High School, were not injured.

The bus had just left the high school and was headed east on Mount Spokane Park Drive about 2:50 p.m. when it plowed into a Buick that was northbound on Bruce Road, said Washington State Patrol Trooper Jim Hays.

The bus’s hood, which was taller than the car’s roof, buried itself into the driver’s side of the car, pushing it about 75 feet before coming to a stop.

The Buick’s driver, Helen J. Carlson, 83, of Hermiston, Ore., was pronounced dead at the scene.

WSP’s investigation revealed that Carlson stopped at the intersection but then pulled out in front of the bus, which did not have to stop at the intersection, Hays said.

The speed limit on Mount Spokane Park Drive, which also is state Highway 206, is 50 mph. There is no indication that the bus driver, Vickie Scholl, was speeding, Hays said.

“It appears that the school bus driver was doing everything right,” Hays said.

Students were led out the back of the bus so they would not have to view the crash scene, said Jack Lewis, Mead’s transportation director. After they were checked individually by paramedics, they were loaded onto another bus and taken home. The high school vice principal accompanied the students on their second ride.

After the accident, the district’s transportation office and Mt. Spokane High School Principal John Hook called the parents of each student on the bus, Lewis said.

Lewis said the safety of the Bruce Road-Mount Spokane Park Drive crossing is frequently discussed among district drivers.

“The drivers are very cautious with this intersection,” Lewis said. “We discuss it in training frequently.”

Northbound and southbound vehicles on Bruce are confronted with oversized stop signs, blinking red lights, and two additional signs in each direction: one that says “Look again, cross traffic does not stop,” and another that reads “Caution, cross traffic does not stop.”

“It just doesn’t seem to be getting the job done,” Lewis said.

He said it might be time to make the intersection a four-way stop or to place a stoplight there.

Scholl, 53, has been a Mead bus driver about eight years, Lewis said. Her route starts at Mead Middle School and ends at Mount Spokane State Park.

Lewis said Scholl remained calm “and did her job correctly,” Lewis said. “She drives the mountain route all year round and has done a very good job.”