Downsville Pike was the scene of a three-vehicle accident near Hagerstown that resulted in three people being injured. One the vehicles involved in the collision, which occurred on a Thursday morning, was a school bus servicing Washington County schools, although no students were aboard that vehicle at the time of the collision.
As Maryland personal injury attorneys, we can understand how parents worry about incidents like this. School buses, like city buses, can carry a large number of passengers, which means that if the vehicle is hit or somehow is involved in a traffic accident, those occupants are at risk for injury. Although every situation is different, depending on various factors such accidents can result in passengers sustaining cuts and bruises, simple and compound fractures of the arm or leg, head and neck injuries and sometimes traumatic brain injuries.
In this case, police reports indicate that the accident was apparently the result of a passenger car driver failing to yield to another motor vehicle. Based on news articles, the crash occurred shortly past 9am when a southbound Honda driven by an elderly woman turned left directly in front of an oncoming Kia sport utility vehicle at the intersection of Downsville Pike and W. Oak Ridge Dr.
The collision caused Karcher’s Civic to crash into the school bus that was waiting for the traffic signal at the same intersection. The Kia SUV, driven by 36-year-old Jeanette Shank of Hagerstown, ended up pointing north on the shoulder of the pike. Two young children were in the vehicle with Shank; a 4-month-old baby and a 4-year-old child. All of them were taken to Meritus Medical Center for a routine exam to rule out any injuries – all three were subsequently released.
According to Maryland State Police, no children were injured in the accident as the school bus was empty, having dropped students at nearby Washington Co. Technical High School just prior to the accident. The bus driver was reportedly unhurt as a result of the crash. Karcher was issued a citation by troopers for failure to yield to traffic while making a left-hand turn. Both passenger cars had to be towed from the accident scene, while the bus, which sustained a large dent in its bodywork, was driven away under its own power.
Three injured in 3-vehicle crash near Hagerstown involving school bus, Herald-Mail.com, March 24, 2011