Students Injured When School Bus Crashes Into Ditch In Mercer County
By Todd Quinones
HAMILTON, NJ (CBS) – Six children and the bus driver were taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Hamilton after an accident on Monday afternoon.
The bus driver says she swerved to avoid hitting a deer, and the bus wound up in a ditch.
Fourteen students were on the bus when the driver lost control and crashed into a ditch on Merrick Road, just off of Edgebrook Road.
"It's kind of scary to say, but I thought I was going to die. I don't know why, but I just had that feeling when I heard the crash sound," said 12-year-old Christian DeLorenzo.
He and his fellow classmates from St. Gregory the Great Academy in Hamilton Square were being driven home when the bus driver, who police identify as 69-year-old Jeanette Guerra, swerved, apparently to miss a deer.
The students on the bus, who were between 8 and 13 years old, were terrified.
"I think I lost some hearing because of one of the girls screaming because of their big sister -- she had a cut across her forehead," DeLorenzo said.
Fortunately, those who were taken to the hospital were not seriously injured.
Christian's father was not upset with the bus driver.
"The bus driver is an excellent driver. We've known her for a long time, and she is terrific," Joe DeLorenzo said.
Five of the children and the bus driver were all released from the hospital with minor injuries.
As a precaution, one child was being held overnight and transferred to Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital.
