THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 17, 1995 TAG: 9505170072
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Short : 30 lines
No one was seriously injured, but there was plenty of rush-hour excitement Tuesday morning when a pickup ran into the back of a school bus on U.S. Route 158 near Aydlett Road, two miles south of Coinjock.
N.C. Highway Patrol Trooper Michael Miller said the 1994 Ford pickup, driven by Victor Roughton, of Mount Hermon Road in Elizabeth City, struck the loaded school bus driven by Shirley Winfree of Grandy. The bus was headed south, for Griggs School in Poplar Branch.
``Mr. Roughton reported he saw a vehicle in the ditch and thought there had been an accident,'' Miller said, ``Actually, it was some Transportation Department mowing equipment, but it diverted Mr. Roughton's attention.''
Rescue vehicles from Lower Currituck and Crawford Township responded and treated five children at the scene for minor injuries, the trooper reported. None was hospitalized.
Miller charged Roughton with failing to reduce speed. Roughton's truck was badly damaged and the driver escaped serious injury because she wore a seatbelt and had an airbag, the trooper said.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC INJURIES by CNB