13 CdA students hurt in crash
Thirteen high school students and a teacher from Coeur d’Alene were sent to the hospital Wednesday evening with injuries after their bus tipped over on U.S. Highway 95 in Hayden.
The driver was later cited for traveling too fast for conditions, which were slippery due to recent snowfall.
All the students were in good condition Wednesday night at Kootenai Medical Center, with none suffering major injuries, hospital spokeswoman Lisa Brown said. Three students had been discharged by 7:45 p.m. The teacher was treated for minor injuries, Brown said.
They were among 41 Lake City High School students and two teachers on the Silver Eagle charter bus returning from a field trip to Schweitzer Mountain Resort near Sandpoint. The students are in the school’s life sports class and had spent the day skiing and snowboarding.
Four ambulances took the injured to the hospital. Injuries included cuts and bruises, said Jim Lyon, a Kootenai County Fire and Rescue spokesman. Other students complained of sore necks and backs after the shock of the wreck began to wear off, Lyon said.
The accident occurred about 500 yards north of the intersection of U.S. 95 and Hayden Avenue. According to a press release from the Idaho State Police, bus driver Ronald G. Long, 67, of Spokane, told officers he began to brake for a red light at Hayden Avenue, lost control, slid off the right shoulder and overturned, tipping the bus onto its left side and coming to rest on the shoulder.
Junior Austin Mitchell said he was asleep when he heard the bus driver yell, “Here we go!”
“I’ve never been woken up that quick in my life,” Mitchell said.
He said he ended up in a pile of students. He asked if everyone was OK, and some students in the back replied they were hurt. The impact knocked the shoes off some passengers, he said.
Mitchell said students helped one another escape through emergency hatches in the roof.
Other students climbed out through the opening for the windshield, which was broken out.
Levi Lenz, a junior, said his hip slammed into a window when the bus crashed.
“Everybody fell on top of me,” Lenz said.
A senior who declined to give his name said he saw one girl with blood running down her face.
The class instructor, Cory Bridges, also was on the bus. “It was a great day until here,” Bridges said.
He described the accident as “really subtle,” not a violent crash. The bus almost came to a stop before it tipped, Bridges said.
The driver, Ron Long, said he had a sore shoulder. He declined to comment further.
Some parents showed up to pick up their children.
Others students boarded another bus dispatched to the scene.
A state police commercial vehicle inspector arrived later to look over the bus.
The Washington and Idaho state patrols reported 96 accidents across the region Wednesday afternoon and evening as heavy snow fell and the temperature dropped to below freezing.
Hospital spokeswoman Brown said that Kootenai Medical Center’s emergency room saw an influx of injuries due to car accidents.
However, state police reported no major injuries from the many crashes.