MANDEVILLE, La. — A pickup truck crashed into a school bus that was in the process of picking up two girls in Mandeville Tuesday morning in a crash that parents say could have been much worse.
A surveillance camera captured the whole thing.
The video shows the school bus slow down and start flashing its lights as it approaches a young girl waiting to be picked up. Then, a pickup truck crashes into it at full speed, wedging underneath it and pushing it down the road.
A ladder strapped to the top of the truck flies off its roof, nearly hitting one of the girls waiting on the street. Thankfully, they quickly got out of the way.
“I was inside and heard a pretty loud bang, but I thought it was from the construction site a couple doors down,” Julie Eldridge, one of the girls’ mothers, said. “Then she came running in.”
The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office says the truck’s driver was taken to the hospital, but their injuries aren’t life-threatening. The bus driver was injured as well, but police his their injuries were minor and they were treated at the scene.
No children were injured in the crash, but Eldridge says they’re both shaken up.
“The school counselor called and said (my daughter) was a little shaken up and she needed her mama,” Eldridge said. “So, I spent the day with her and, you know, just explained that these things happen and that's why we count our blessings.”
Now, the girls’ parents are hoping the video of the crash will be a wake-up call for drivers to be more careful around children and school buses.
“Getting kids to and from school is just vital to our community,” Eldridge said. “We have to be able to trust that when we put our little ones get on the bus that, you know, they are in good hands and that other drivers are taking the necessary precautions.”
The pickup truck driver was not cited for the crash, but the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office says they’re looking into their options and may still take action.
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