On the morning of Monday, January 30, PMA bus five, transporting 19 city students to MHS, swerved to the right and hit a neighboring truck. The bus then rebounded to the left and hit a small sedan, causing the car to revolve 180 degrees on the highway.

“(The crash) happened on Interstate 64 near Ballas Road,” senior principal Dr. Dan Ramsay said. “It was more than a fender bender, but not enough to where the bus was undriveable.”

The accident was relatively minor, though it remained an alarming moment for the students involved.

“I was reading my book and the bus started to swerve a little. Then it hit the truck on the right, went the other way and hit a car,” Nick Battle, senior said. “We were on the left side of the highway and the car completely turned around and faced the bus.”

Cory Cox, junior, was another student on the bus at the time of the accident.

“We were on the highway and my bus driver swerved to the right and hit a truck,” Cox said. “She swerved to the left, hit a car, and the car was wrecked, and the bus almost tipped over.”

A few moments after the crash, all students were attended to by paramedics and taken to Mercy Hospital as per Rockwood protocol.

“Precautionarily, you’re going to take them to a hospital and have them checked by doctors to make sure everyone is okay before we move on,” Dr. Stephen Hankins, associate principal, said.

Neither Battler nor Cox were severely injured following the accident. However, both students were required to wear a temporary neck brace upon arrival at the hospital.

“The bus driver drove the bus to the hospital and then we got there, I was checked out and another bus took the kids back to school,” Battle said. “I had a strain in my neck.”

Following the hospital visit, all students were taken back to school to complete the rest of the day.

“I can say that every kid walked in on their own and walked out on their own,” Dr. Ramsay said. “Everyone was out by lunch time.”