Semitruck avoids highway crash with school bus

The quick response by a truck driver and fellow motorists helped avoid what could have been a tragic situation.

A bus driver was transporting students to Ralph E. Waite Elementary School in northeast Ohio around 8:30 a.m. on April 19, according to a report from WEWS-TV in Cleveland.

The report said the school bus was stopped with its lights flashing and stop sign arm out on northbound state Route 57 in Montville Township, Ohio. Video from the scene shows a tractor-trailer approaching the rear of the bus before swerving into the left lane of oncoming traffic to avoid hitting the bus and back into the northbound lane to avoid southbound traffic.

Amid all of this, a driver behind the bus pulled off the road, while the driver of a pickup truck in the southbound lane backed into an SUV to avoid being hit by the oncoming truck.

Video of the incident on News 5, showed footage from inside the school bus as well as dash camera footage from the semitruck.

According to the authorities, the driver of the truck said his brakes went out. The truck came to a stop approximately a quarter mile from where the driver swerved to miss the school bus, Montville Township Police Chief Matt Neil said in the ABC affiliate’s report.

It was estimated by local law enforcement that the 80,000-pound truck was traveling between 40 and 45 mph when it swerved to avoid the crash.

“I’m just glad that crisis was averted,” Neil said. “He (the truck driver) handled everything in a professional manner.”

A formal investigation into the situation is ongoing, according to the local reports. LL

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