Eleven students were taken to the hospital after a school bus made a sudden stop to avoid a sedan in Pierce County, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said the crash happened at about 9:30 a.m. as a bus carrying 32 children in the Franklin Pierce School District was traveling to Collins Elementary School.
The bus had a green light at the intersection of East 128th Street and Waller Road when a sedan driven by a man entered the intersection against the light, deputies said.
Video obtained by KIRO Radio appears to the show the sedan making a left turn in front of the bus, though deputies have not confirmed this.
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To try to avoid a collision, the bus driver braked hard, causing all 32 children to lurch forward.
Deputies said the students struck their heads and necks against the seats in front of them.
Standard school buses do not have seatbelts.
Ten children were transported to the hospital for evaluation. One additional child was taken to a hospital by family members, according to the sheriff’s office.
All had minor injuries, except for one who might have serious injuries, the sheriff’s office said.
The airbags in the sedan deployed and the driver was taken to the hospital.
Delsie Baumgardner had just dropped her six-year-old twins off for the bus when she saw ambulances going by. She turned on the police scanner and heard there had been a school bus crash.
“My heart just sank, because I knew, you know?” she said.
Baumgardner rushed to the intersection where the crash happened.
“It’s nerve wracking,” she said. “I was shaking as well. But I just knew I had to hurry up and get there to make sure, see if it was my kids and if they were okay.”
Baumgardner took one of her daughter’s to the hospital for a high heart rate, but she thinks it might have just been because she was scared. Both of her daughters are doing okay.
She said she constantly sees issues on 128th St.
“People tend to cut through 128 to get to either Canyon Road or Waller or Pacific,” Baumgardner said. “It’s just heavy traffic, and people speed down it.”
A woman who lives near the intersection expressed similar frustration.
“There’s so many car accidents (at this intersection),” Katina Perry said. “At least every day, every other day.”
Perry said people often speed up to get through yellow lights.
“It just doesn’t make any sense for them to rev up and do like 40, 50, 60,” Perry said. “I worry about somebody smashing into our cars.”
The school district said it coordinated with families at the scene and sent a second bus to transport the remaining students to school.
No additional details about the condition of the injured students were released.