Wrong-way truck driver arrested after hitting school bus

The school bus driver made an evasive maneuver that “prevented a potentially catastrophic tragedy,” officials for the Texas district say.

Thomas McMahon・Executive Editor

February 5, 2016

Wrong-way truck driver arrested after hitting school bus — As a pickup truck approached, the driver of this Somerset (Texas) ISD school bus made an evasive maneuver that prevented a potentially worse outcome, officials say. Photo courtesy Somerset ISD

2 min to read

As a pickup truck approached, the driver of this Somerset (Texas) ISD school bus made an evasive maneuver that prevented a potentially worse outcome, officials say. Photo courtesy Somerset ISD

SOMERSET, Texas — A pickup truck headed the wrong way struck a school bus here on Thursday, but officials said that the school bus driver’s quick reaction protected her and her passengers.

Early Thursday morning, the Bexar County Sheriff's Office reported on Twitter that there was a wrong-way driver on a highway in south Bexar County.

The pickup truck clipped a Somerset Independent School District (ISD) school bus at an intersection and then fled, later colliding with another vehicle, authorities said.

Police then caught the pickup truck driver and arrested him. A photo posted on Twitter by the Bexar County Sheriff's Office shows major damage to the front right side of the truck, including a missing wheel.

Driver apprehended at 1604 & De Vilbiss after going wrong way & hitting school bus, no major injuries to anyone pic.twitter.com/yZosMmrsVj
— Bexar County Sheriff (@BexarCoSheriff) February 4, 2016

There were two elementary schoolchildren on the bus when it was hit by the truck. The students and school bus driver Christina Torres were not injured.

Somerset ISD praised Torres for her decisive actions as the truck approached her bus. District officials wrote on Twitter that Torres made “a split-second decision to utilize an expert evasive maneuver that prevented a potentially catastrophic tragedy from occurring, keeping her and our two elementary students safe.”

A police spokesman told KSAT that the pickup truck driver is believed to have been under the influence of a narcotic.

Topics:driver training emergency planning law enforcement school bus crash Texas Safety

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