
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 6, 1995                   TAG: 9506060153
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: YORKTOWN                                 LENGTH: Short

SCHOOL BUS HITS, KILLS CROSS-COUNTRY CYCLIST

A cyclist on the first day of a cross-country trip was hit by a school bus Monday and killed.

Bruce Hoof, 29, of Snohomish, Wash., planned to ride from Yorktown to Oregon. He was struck by the bus on the Colonial Parkway, which links the national historic parks at Yorktown and Jamestown. He died at the scene.

The only witness to the accident was the bus driver, David D. White III, 57, said Chief Ranger Jim Burnett of the National Park Service. The agency is investigating the crash.

Hoof was in a group of about a half-dozen cyclists, but they were spread over a few miles, Burnett said.

White told police that he was moving to the center of the road to pass Hoof when the man suddenly veered left into the front of the bus, said Richard Hixson, the school system's deputy superintendent for operations.

White has been driving school buses for 40 years and has maintained a spotless record, Hixson said.

White, who was not injured, was ``extremely upset,'' Burnett said. Because of shock and stress, he was taken to a hospital where he was treated and released, school officials said. He has not been charged in connection with the accident, Burnett said.

Hoof was part of a group sponsored by Adventure Cycling, a private, nonprofit organization based in Montana. The group had not decided Monday evening whether to continue as scheduled.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB