Report: Teen driver didn’t see stop sign due to tree limbs before hitting bus

The 17-year-old driver who hit a school bus in Woodland on Monday afternoon said he did not see a stop sign at the intersection of Northwestern and West Gettysburg avenues due to tree limbs, and he failed to stop before colliding with the bus, authorities said.

The Clinton teenager estimated he was traveling at about 30 mph in a 1997 Volvo 960 sedan as he drove west on West Gettysburg Avenue just before the 2:16 p.m. crash, according to an Oak Ridge Police Department accident report.

The bus driver, Yvonnda Smith McNair, 60, of Oliver Springs, told ORPD Officer Leslie Miller that she was driving south on Northwestern Avenue when the Volvo failed to stop and hit the bus, owned by contractor First Student Inc.

The report said the distance from the edge of the stop line to the point of impact was close to 35 feet. The right front side of the car appeared to have hit the left center of the bus.

Authorities said no children were injured in the collision, although later Monday afternoon, Oak Ridge Interim Superintendent Bob Smallridge said a bus assistant may have hurt her shoulder, and she went to the hospital to be checked out.

The yellow school bus, Bus #596, was carrying about 18 children headed home from the Oak Ridge Preschool. None were taken away from the crash by ambulance, Oak Ridge Assistant Fire Chief Josh Waldo said.

The children were moved to another school bus after the crash, where they waited for their parents to pick them up. At about 4 p.m., Smallridge said all students had been picked up.

The accident report said the teen driver and McNair were both using shoulder and lap belts and were not injured. Damage to both vehicles was estimated at more than $400 each.