HESPERIA: Eight injured in crash that sent bus careening into pole, fence and building

HESPERIA — Eight people were hospitalized after an SUV ran a Hesperia stop sign and plowed into a bus carrying nearly three dozen high school students, Friday afternoon, Nov. 3. Six of those injured in the crash were juveniles ranging from 4 to 17-years-old. The drivers of the bus and SUV were also injured and hospitalized.

According to California Highway Patrol officials who are investigating the cause of the collision, a total of 35 Hesperia High School students were on a Hesperia Unified School District school bus when the accident happened at the intersection of Oakwood Road and Pendleton Street.

Emergency first responders were dispatched to the scene of the accident at 2:25 p.m., after numerous people called 911 to report the collision.

CHP officers investigating the crash determined the International School Bus was traveling northbound on Oakwood Avenue and was being driven at the posted speed limit. The Ford was traveling west on Pendleton Street at approximately 45 mph, approaching Oakwood Avenue

“The driver of the Ford Escape failed to stop at the posted stop sign, entered the intersection and collided with the right portion of the International School Bus,” CHP officials explained.

After the Ford crashed into the bus, the impact between the two vehicles caused the driver of the bus to lose control and the bus careened in a northwest direction off the roadway, where it smashed into an Edison power pole and through a long section of chain link fence, narrowly missing a series of trees.

As the bus continued, it smashed into and through a wooden outbuilding, completely destroying the structure.

The bus finally came to rest about 400 feet north of where the accident happened, in the yard of a private residence on the 10800 block of Oakwood Road, just south of Mesa Street.

The impact caused the Ford to redirect to the north where it came to rest on the east shoulder of Oakwood Avenue.

Both vehicles sustained major damage from the collision.

“The driver of the International school bus, along with five of the students aboard, aging between 14 and 17 years of age, were transported to local hospitals with minor injuries,” CHP officials said.

The driver of the Ford, a 26-year-old woman from Hesperia, and a 4-year-old female passenger in the Ford, who officials say was properly restrained in the rear passenger area, sustained minor injuries in the crash and both were transported to a local hospital for evaluation and treatment.

Neither alcohol nor drug intoxication are considered to be contributing factors in this collision.

The accident is being investigated by officers from CHP’s Victorville office and their investigation is active and ongoing.

Anyone with any information regarding this collision is encouraged to contact Officer M. Fernandez at (760) 241-1186. Callers can remain anonymous.

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Trevor Montgomery, who recently moved from Riverside County to Shasta County, runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.