Watch CBS News

Video: School Bus Slides Down Icy Hill, Crashes Into Car

SUTTON (CBS) – Frightening video shows an out-of-control school bus sliding down an icy hill in Sutton Tuesday morning.

Cheryl Kearney Katz shared video to Facebook of the bus sliding down Peach Tree Drive at about 7:10 a.m. It spins around and takes out mailboxes before crashing into a car that also appeared to have spun out.

"I've been shaking all day," Katz told WBZ-TV.

Cheryl Katz couldn't shake the adrenaline after she took the video out her window Tuesday morning. The school bus with about 20 students on board sliding out of control.

"And I could see it just gaining momentum as it was coming down the street," Katz said. "Nothing was stopping it."

Her son was waiting for the bus at the bottom if the hill.

"We heard a big crash and one of my friends told me to run so I ran down that hill down there," said Kyle Katz.

Kids on board the bus say the driver battled the wheel with little success. "He eventually just put it in park and held on," seventh grader Ryan Cyronak said.

"Everyone was scared, screaming and didn't know what to do," said seventh grader Matthew Graves, who was on the bus. "I thought it was going to flip over actually because we hit a few mailboxes."

Ted and Hap Cronin were heading up Peach Tree Drive and pulled over in their car watching as the yellow bus careened in their direction.

"It started coming down the hill towards us and out of control," said Ted Cronin.

"When we saw that we kept backing up and we thought it's gonna get us for sure," Hap Cronin said.

Instead, it hit a car in front of them. Fortunately, no one was hurt. They called 911, and an emergency phone alert informed residents all school bus drivers were told to pull over until the roads were passable.

The students say the car saved them from sliding all the way down the hill.

"It saved us from really rolling over and crashing and people could have gotten really seriously injured," Cyronak said.

The bus continued on to school after the crash.

Sutton Superintendent Theordore Friend told WBZ-TV that he spoke to other area superintendents and highway departments Tuesday morning, and felt it would OK to hold school as normal.

Crews began treating roads in town at 6 a.m. but had not gotten to Peach Tree Road yet, he said. After the crash, buses were told to remain on standby until 8:20 a.m. when roads were deemed safe.

The bus driver is not facing an investigation.

Friend said there was another incident involving a school transport van at about noon on Dodge Road.

The van hit a pole on the side of the road, injuring the bus monitor on board. The driver and a preschool student riding the bus were hospitalized as a precaution.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.