Left-front and partial side view of school bus postcrash.

​​Left-front and partial side view of school bus postcrash.

Intersection Collision and Rollover Involving School Bus and Pickup Truck

What Happened

​About 7:13 a.m. on Monday, November 27, 2017, a 2011 Chevrolet Express 12-passenger school bus, operated by First Student, Inc., was traveling east on John G. Mine Road, near Helena, Montana, when the driver stopped at Green Meadow Drive before proceeding into the intersection, where the bus was struck by a 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck. The bus was occupied by the driver, an adult aide, and two student passengers. The pickup truck—occupied by the driver and one passenger—was towing a flatbed equipment trailer and traveling south on Green Meadow Drive, on which traffic was not controlled by a stop sign.

What We Found

​We determined that the probable cause of the school bus–pickup truck collision near Helena, Montana, was the bus driver’s failure to see the pickup truck, which was approaching the intersection, and the acceleration of the bus into the intersection in front of the pickup truck. The use of passenger lap/shoulder belts mitigated the severity of injuries to the school bus occupants.​​

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