Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 18, 1995 TAG: 9507180069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAURICE A. WILLIAMS III STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The accident occurred about 9 a.m. at the intersection of Brandon Avenue and Mount Vernon Road in Raleigh Court.
The school bus was carrying Patrick Henry High School students to the last day of a summer-school swimming class at Fallon Park.
The impact spun the car around the school bus, crushing both doors on the driver's side of the car.
"It just happened so fast," said Shirley Terry, the bus driver. "She just pulled out in front of me, and I tried to stop and I hit her." She said this was the first accident she has been involved in since becoming a bus driver in 1968.
The swimming-class instructor and the driver of the car were taken to Roanoke Memorial Hospital. The instructor was released; the driver of the car was listed in stable condition. Eight students sustained minor injuries and were taken to Lewis-Gale Hospital; all were released later in the day.
Neighbors on Mount Vernon Road said accidents are common at the intersection and that a stoplight is needed.
"We have been asking the city for years for a stoplight," Diane Poff said. "There have been at least two accidents a year here."
Poff was in her driveway when she heard the accident. She said motorists use the intersection to avoid the stoplight at Brandon and Brambleton avenues, particularly during the evening rush hour.
Jean Fallon, who lives two doors from the intersection, said she uses other streets to avoid the Brandon-Mount Vernon intersection.
"I always go the back way, because I've seen too many accidents," Fallon said. "It has always been a problem. I think a stoplight would make a huge difference." She said she doesn't let her children cross Brandon at the intersection.
Officers said there have been no formal complaints about the intersection, and that there aren't an excessive number of accidents there.
by CNB