School bus hit by car

A Morgan County School bus was hit by a vehicle that crossed the center line on Route 9 East near Lutman Orchards on Monday afternoon.

There were no injuries to the bus driver, eight students and aide that were on the special-equipped bus. The driver of the car was not injured, said Morgan County Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Lemon, who was in charge of the scene.

A female passenger in the car was transported from the scene to City Hospital at her request for suspected injuries. She was later released, Lemon said.

The call to Morgan County 911 Dispatch came in at 3:34 p.m. on February 6 for an accident at the 6800 block of Martinsburg Road involving a 4-door 2001 Ford Focus and a 2003 International school bus.

The driver of the car, Robert Jenkins, age 20, of Charleston, was heading west toward Berkeley Springs on Route 9 East. He told Deputy Lemon that his car wouldn’t turn in the bend and that his vehicle slid and hit the bus.

The bus had minor damage, but the car was possibly totaled, Lemon said.

Jenkins was speeding and driving too fast for road conditions, Lemon said. There were cinders on the road, it was a sharp bend and the posted speed limit is 25 miles an hour.

Jenkins was cited for being left of center and for failure to maintain control of his vehicle.

Both lanes of the road were closed for about 25 minutes due to the accident, and then one lane was opened until the scene was cleared, Lemon said.

School bus # 171 was driven by Diann Miller, age 57, of Berkeley Springs, said Morgan County Schools Transportation Director John Gue. The eight students on her bus ranged from ages 7-16.

The emergency medical technicians boarded the bus and did a triage of each student to assess them for injuries, which is school protocol, Gue said.
The car struck the front bumper of the bus even though the bus driver had moved completely to the right to avoid it, Gue said.

Morgan County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Wade Shambaugh, Deputy Kevin Barney and Deputy Reserve David Bucher were also on the scene.

Fire and rescue units from Berkeley Springs, Hedgesville and Hancock Volunteer Fire Companies and two units from the Morgan County Rescue Service also responded. Units were on the scene for about an hour.

Superintendent David Banks and Assistant Superintendent Joan Willard rushed to the accident scene and many Board of Education personnel stopped to help, Gue said.