By Derrick Perkins
The Union Leader Correspondent
WINDHAM, N.H. — A driver who police say was distracted plowed his pickup truck into the rear of a school bus as it was letting off a student around 2:30 p.m. yesterday. Eight people were sent to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
The small bus, carrying nine Windham students from Salem High School, was stopped on Route 111 near the intersection of Killdeer Road when a black Ford F-350 Superduty driven by Glenn Maynard, 56, of Hudson struck it from behind, school and police officials said.
Four students were transported to Parkland Medical Center, Fire Chief Thomas McPherson said. The motorist and two other students were transported to Southern New Hampshire Medical Center while the bus driver, Andrea Maines, 61, of Salem, was taken to Holy Family Hospital.
Three students refused treatment and were released to their parents, officials said.
Officers described the injuries as typical of a rear-end accident and said the hospitalizations were a precaution.
The names of those involved were not immediately available.
Mark Raad, 16, was standing up to leave the bus as it came to a stop in front of 138 Haverhill Road home when the pickup truck struck, he said. Raad was not injured.
“As I got up, I flew forward,” said Raad, a junior at Salem High. “I have no idea (what happened next). Everything was white, dusty and glass was everywhere. I walked off the bus.”
His father, Joseph, heard the collision and knowing his son was due home, began running down his driveway.
“Usually, I’m not waiting for him, but I ran screaming, ‘Mark, Mark, are you OK?’ It was terrible, I ran to the bus,” he said. “Thank God he’s OK ... I feel good now.”
Other neighbors had similar reactions, saying it sounded like a bomb had gone off in the street.
“It made a hell of a noise,” said Phil Park.
“If it had been a car, those people would all be dead,” said Gerry Lavigne, standing in his front yard only a few feet away from the wreck.
Frank Bass, Windham’s superintendent of schools, said the students were juniors and seniors still attending Salem High. Though Windham opened a new high school to freshmen and sophomores earlier this year, upperclassmen are graduating with their Salem classmates.
“We are pleased with the quality of the buses. The bus driver did everything he could,” Bass said. “This underscores the point that when driving, pay attention to the road.”
The accident remains under investigation, though authorities have ruled out alcohol and excessive speed as factors. No charges are pending.
Copyright 2009 Union Leader Corp.
All Rights Reserved