Idaho school bus driver cited after crash with 12 middle school students on board
Authorities cited a school bus driver Wednesday morning for inattentive driving after the bus he was driving crashed into another vehicle.
Around 7:15 a.m., the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office responded to the crash at Ustick and Wagner roads, southeast of Caldwell. A dozen students from Jefferson Middle School were on the bus at the time of the crash.
According to witnesses, a Dodge Dart was eastbound on Ustick when a school bus traveling south on Wagner failed to stop for a stop sign and pulled into oncoming traffic, causing the collision.
The driver of the Dodge Dart, a 61-year-old Parma man, was transported to a Caldwell hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office.
One child received minor injuries and was treated at the scene. The driver of the bus, 30-year-old Scott Letsom, of Caldwell, was issued a citation for inattentive driving. The bus is registered to Caldwell Transportation Company.
The incident also triggered a second crash, involving a Chrysler van and a Chevrolet Avalanche. The driver of the Chrysler was stopped for the bus accident in the eastbound lane of Ustick Road when it was side-swiped by the Avalanche, which had been behind the Chrysler.
The driver of the Avalanche, a 16-year-old female from Caldwell, was unable to stop due to icy conditions on the road. She was cited for driving too fast for the conditions.
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 11:25 AM.
