More than a dozen students injured in school bus crash
Fourteen students were injured in a school bus crash in Sparta, Wisconsin on Friday, December 9. According to various media reports, it was a Sparta Area School District bus involved in the crash, which was transporting students from school at the time of the incident.
“ The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said there were 37 students on the bus. According to a news release, 14 students and the driver of a pickup were treated at local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. One student was transported by ambulance,” an article by WEAU reads.
The crash reportedly happened at about 3:30 p.m. on Hwy 21, just west of County Hwy. Q in the Town of Angelo.
“The school bus was east bound when the driver of the bus, David E. Ames of rural Sparta, turned in front of a west bound pickup truck operated by Robert H. Brueggen of rural Sparta,” the article reads. “Brueggen was trapped in the truck and had to be extricated. He was transported by Sparta Area Ambulance service to Mayo Clinic Sparta campus for non-life threatening injuries.”
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is continuing an investigation into the crash with aid from the Wisconsin State Patrol.
“The sheriff’s office said Lamers Bus Service is cooperating with the investigation,” the article reads.
The article does not mention whether or not Ames was charged with anything in connection to the crash. There’s also no mention of the ages of the children involved or their current conditions.
From 2009-14, there was an average of 542 school bus crashes and an average of 140 injuries in school bus-related crashes each year. There were no fatalities in school bus crashes within that same time period, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
