LAKELAND, Fla.- Early Tuesday morning a Polk County school bus was involved in a crash in Lakeland. The crash sent four people, three of which were students, to the hospital.
According to Florida Highway Patrol, the crash occurred around 6:25 a.m. at Swindell Road and Galloway Road. The incident took place while a 1994 Chevrolet pickup was traveling southbound on Galloway Road and the school bus was traveling eastbound on Swindell Road.
While traveling along Swindell Road the school bus came to a stop sign and stopped, but then proceeded through the intersection. FHP says the school bus entered the path of the pickup truck driving through the intersection, causing the front of the truck to crash into the left side of the school bus.
There was 20 students on the school bus at the time. They were being transported to Kathleen High School. Three students and the driver of the pickup truck were transported to local hospitals with minor injuries. They are expected to recover.
Parents of the students that were being transported on the bus were notified of the accident. Shortly after the incident another school bus arrived to the scene to take the remaining students to school.
The driver of the school bus, whose name has not yet been released, was cited for violation of right-of-way. FHP is still investigating the accident at this time.
The accident caused roadblocks in the northbound lanes. According to WFLA, the scene had been cleared by 8:45 a.m.
This accident comes after a series of school bus accidents have made national news. On Sunday a school bus carrying members and coaches of a Colorado high school football team crashed into a concrete pillar at Denver International Airport. The crash killed the bus driver and injured 18 passengers, authorities said. It is unknown why the driver had circled back around to the airport. The driver’s name and age has not been released.
Another school bus made national headlines after catching on fire Monday. The school bus went up in flames in Baltimore in the College Park, Prince George’s County area. There were 20 elementary students on the bus at the time. The bus driver took each of the students out of the bus one at a time and no one was injured. The cause of the fire is still under investigation in this case.