A female driver was pinned into her vehicle after it was struck in T-bone fashion by a school bus Monday morning. She was eventually extricated by firefighters and taken to a local hospital for injuries and is expected to fully recover.
The crash occurred at approximately 8:12 a.m. at Central Avenue and Service Road.
Bus #1, a 2006 Bluebird, had just completed a morning delivery of students to summer school classes but was not occupied by children at the time of the crash.
Ceres Police Department Sergeant Jose Berber said the accident is still under investigation.
CUSD Transportation Director Ken Hines said that bus driver Mary Rogers insists the other driver was at fault.
"According to the driver statement, the other vehicle ran the red light but until the police report comes out, you know, what I mean," said Hines.
A video of the crash taken by an onboard bus camera shows the impact but cannot exclusively confirm Rogers' assertion that the driver of the car ran a red light.
"It was quite a jolt," said Hines.
Both drivers were females in their 50s.
Officer Sergio Jimenez, a School Resource Officer who was working at Central Valley High School, was an earwitness to the crash. He heard the loud sound of a traffic collision and responded to find a Ceres Unified School District bus had collided into the driver side of a Jeep Laredo.
The bus was traveling northbound on Central Avenue and the Jeep Laredo was traveling west on Service Road when the collision occurred.
Hines said the bus will be out of commission for a few weeks or longer.
"I think we'll be able to fix it," he said. "But it did take a lot of damage."
School buses cost about $190,000, he said.
Rogers was shaken by the crash and sustained seat belt lacerations and a sore wrist from the impact.
"There were different blessings in this crash," said Hines. "The bus was empty and because regular school was not in session the intersection was not so congested. It could have been a lot worse."
Ceres Police Department is asking anyone who witnessed the collision to call the Ceres Watch Commander office at 538-5706.
The crash occurred at approximately 8:12 a.m. at Central Avenue and Service Road.
Bus #1, a 2006 Bluebird, had just completed a morning delivery of students to summer school classes but was not occupied by children at the time of the crash.
Ceres Police Department Sergeant Jose Berber said the accident is still under investigation.
CUSD Transportation Director Ken Hines said that bus driver Mary Rogers insists the other driver was at fault.
"According to the driver statement, the other vehicle ran the red light but until the police report comes out, you know, what I mean," said Hines.
A video of the crash taken by an onboard bus camera shows the impact but cannot exclusively confirm Rogers' assertion that the driver of the car ran a red light.
"It was quite a jolt," said Hines.
Both drivers were females in their 50s.
Officer Sergio Jimenez, a School Resource Officer who was working at Central Valley High School, was an earwitness to the crash. He heard the loud sound of a traffic collision and responded to find a Ceres Unified School District bus had collided into the driver side of a Jeep Laredo.
The bus was traveling northbound on Central Avenue and the Jeep Laredo was traveling west on Service Road when the collision occurred.
Hines said the bus will be out of commission for a few weeks or longer.
"I think we'll be able to fix it," he said. "But it did take a lot of damage."
School buses cost about $190,000, he said.
Rogers was shaken by the crash and sustained seat belt lacerations and a sore wrist from the impact.
"There were different blessings in this crash," said Hines. "The bus was empty and because regular school was not in session the intersection was not so congested. It could have been a lot worse."
Ceres Police Department is asking anyone who witnessed the collision to call the Ceres Watch Commander office at 538-5706.
