KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — No children were hurt when a Knox County school bus collided with a work truck Wednesday morning in Mechanicsville, but two people in the other vehicle were injured.
According to a spokesperson for the Knoxville Police Department, at 8:30 a.m., bus no. 271 was crossing Beaumont Ave. from College St. when it hit a work truck traveling on Beaumont.
The driver of the Ford F250 said the bus driver ran the stop sign. The bus driver, Charles Selby, 75, said he did stop at the stop sign.
Investigators said in either case, the bus driver pulled out in front of the truck and caused the accident. Selby was cited for failure to yield.
Selby will be removed from the approved driver roster, according to a spokesperson for Knox County Schools, pending review of the incident by transportation and security personnel. He is not an employee of KCS, but works for a school bus contractor.
The truck driver swerved to try to avoid the collision, and slammed into two utility poles before stopping. The poles were wired into street lamp pole, and all three poles crashed to the ground.
The driver and passenger in the truck were transported to the hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries.
There were five kids on the bus from Beaumont Elementary School. None of them were hurt. A spokesperson for Knox County Schools said another bus came to pick up the kids and take them on to school.
KUB was working to repair the power poles and restore power.