School bus driver recounts near-miss with tree in storm
Brad Clark, a bus driver for La Mesa (Calif.) Spring Valley School District, was driving his bus through a strong rainstorm in mid-September when an 80-foot eucalyptus tree fell in the street, and his bus slammed into it. Neither he nor the five special-needs students aboard the bus were harmed.
SAN DIEGO — Brad Clark, a bus driver for La Mesa Spring Valley School District, was nearly hit by an 80-foot eucalyptus tree while driving his bus through a strong rainstorm in mid-September, ABC 10 News reports. Neither he nor the five special-needs students riding his bus were harmed.
Clark told the news outlet he rounded the bend in his bus at about 35 to 40 miles an hour when the tree, which he said was about 6 feet wide, fell in the street, and the bus slammed into it. The entire front end of the bus was smashed. The windshield was cracked. He added that he used “the three Cs" from his training with the school district; as he put it, “Check. You care. And then you call.”
Clark estimated his bus sustained at least $10,000 in damage and will drive a temporary bus for the time being, according to the news outlet.
To read the full story, click here.
Watch the ABC 10 News story with footage of the incident below.
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