Bus driver dead after crashing into city building

Kelly Smith, a driver for a Pennsylvania school district, is found on the ground outside the building after she crashed her bus into it. Officials investigating the accident say Smith was ejected from the bus and may have died prior to the crash.

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April 19, 2011

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UPPER MACUNGIE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A school bus driver is dead after she crashed into a municipal building here and was ejected from the bus, officials said.

Kelly Smith, 42, was found on the ground near the building yesterday,ABC 6 Action News reports. The bus went into the office of Sam Ashmar, the vice chairman of Upper Macungie Supervisors. Ashmar told the news source that based on the damage in his office, he does not think he would have survived if he had been inside at the time of the crash.

According to officials at Parkland School District, where Smith worked for 12 years, emergency medical personnel deemed that she might have died prior to the bus crash. Before she struck the building, Smith's bus sideswiped a car and ripped off its front passenger fender.

Sgt. Roger Heins of the Berks Lehigh Regional Police Department said an investigation is ongoing, but it is possible that Smith wasn't wearing a seat belt.

There were no students on the bus at the time of the accident, according to officials. Smith had dropped off high school students and was on her way to a nearby mobile home park to pick up elementary students when the crash occurred.

An autopsy on Smith is scheduled to be performed today.

Topics:driver wellness school bus crash Safety

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