BOSTON — Massachusetts State Police have charged the driver of a tractor-trailer that rear-ended a school bus on a local highway in Brimfield on Dec. 4.

An investigation by a state trooper indicates that the school bus driver had stopped the bus, activated its warning lights and was about to open the door, which activates the stop lights, when the bus was struck in the rear by a tractor towing a low-bed trailer. 

The force of the impact propelled the bus, occupied by the driver and one student, across the grassy median of the highway. The tractor and its trailer slid down an embankment.

The school bus driver was checked by emergency medical services personnel on scene and transported to a hospital, where he was treated and released. The driver of the tractor-trailer, Agnelo Bairos, was also checked by medical personnel, but declined transport to a medical facility. The passenger on the bus was uninjured.

A subsequent investigation by Troop C of the state police determined that Bairos had been following the bus too closely and failed to use care in stopping by not allowing enough distance to safely stop his vehicle. State police have issued Bairos a citation for these two offenses.