Fire/Rescue News -Hammonton school bus crashes, no students injured
By ROB SPAHR Staff Writer | Posted: Monday, December 7, 2009 | 0 comments
HAMMONTON - A school bus driver was hospitalized Monday morning after the bus she was driving struck a tree at the intersection of Central and Valley avenues.
According to C. Dan Blachford, the superintendent of the Hammonton School District, a bus carrying five students was turning left onto Valley Avenue from Central Avenue at about 7:30 a.m. when its driver, Holly Johnson, lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a group of trees between the two roadways....Continue Reading
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Blachford said none of the five students - four middle schoolers and one high schooler - was injured.
"We saw the tape of the crash and there was some jostling of kids; some kids slipped to the edge of their seats," Blachford said. "But no kids changed seats, and they were immediately back to their places after the crash."
Blachford said the Hammonton Police Department transported the students to school, where they were able to call their parents to tell them they had been in an accident.
Johnson - who Blachford said has worked for the school district for about 11 years - was transferred to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, Mainland Campus in Galloway Township, where she was treated for undisclosed injuries and released, according to hospital staff.
"The worst thing on earth is a bus accident where kids are involved. It's something that you live in fear of as a superintendent," said Blachford, adding the last bus accident in the school district that involved students was during the 2006-07 school year. "I was terrified on my way over to the scene. But it was an amazing feeling to get there and see no ambulances and to be told that no kids were hurt and that the driver was only a little shaken up."
Blachford said the bus was able to be driven after the accident but was towed from the scene for precautionary reasons.
Contact Robert Spahr: 609-272-7283 RSpahr@pressofac.com
Posted in Atlantic on Monday, December 7, 2009 12:10 pm Updated: 7:18 pm.
