Five children were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after a car slammed into them as they were getting on a school bus on the far-Northwest Side Wednesday morning, an official said.
The southbound bus was stopped on North Trico Road just north of Silverbell Road at about 8:40 a.m. to pick up children when it was struck from behind by a red Ford Taurus, said Deputy Dawn Hanke, a Pima County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman.
The Taurus "clipped the bus from behind, then went to the right side basically hitting some of the kids as they were getting into the bus," Hanke said.
Three 10-year-old boys, a 6-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl were hit, Hanke said. Four of them had upper leg injuries, and one of the 10-year-olds had a bloody nose, Hanke said.
The driver of the car — a man — was questioned Wednesday morning and cooperated with authorities, Hanke said.
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The bus had stopped and had its red lights flashing when the car hit it, Hanke said.
No citations had been issued Wednesday afternoon, and what caused the driver of the Taurus to slam into the bus was still under investigation, Hanke said. There was no indication of drugs or alcohol being involved in the preliminary investigation, she said.
All of the students were on their way to Roadrunner Elementary School, 16651 W. Calle Carmela, near North Anway Road, said Tamara Crawley, a spokeswoman for the Marana Unified School District.
Three other children were already on the bus when it was struck by the Taurus, but they were not injured, Crawley said.
No other children were getting on the bus, other than those who were struck, Hanke said.
All of the parents were immediately notified of the accident, as were teachers and faculty at Roadrunner Elementary when details had been confirmed, Crawley said.
The bus driver, who has worked for the district more than four years and had never been involved in a collision while in a district vehicle, was to undergo drug and alcohol testing, as would any employee involved in such an accident, Crawley said.
"The bus driver was not found to be at fault in any way, and for that reason he is not on leave and hasn't been suspended," she said.
There hasn't been any safety concerns for students getting on and off the bus on that section of North Trico Road in the past, Crawley said.
