Children, ages 10 and 2, suffered minor injuries; driver of car was taken by ambulance to hospital with major injuries
The Sun-Gazette
VISALIA – A school bus was hit on Friday morning when a car ran a stop sign and skidded into it.
The accident happened at 7:42 a.m. on Friday, March 13 at the intersection of Garden Street and Walnut Avenue in Visalia. The 2020 International school bus was traveling westbound on Walnut Avenue when a 1999 Honda Civic coupe traveling southbound on Garden Street failed to stop at the sign and ran into the bus. After the collision, the Honda came to rest on the sidewalk along the northwest corner of the intersection.
The driver of the coupe, 26-year-old Theresa Marie Rozzell of Visalia, was taken by ambulance to Kaweah Delta Medical Center with major injuries. Rozzell had three juveniles in the car with her, including a 7-year-old girl, a 5-year-old boy and a 2-year-old boy, who was also taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
The driver of the school bus, 62-year-old Ronald Lee Koetsier of Tulare, was able to keep the bus under control following the impact of the car and bring it to a stop just west of the Honda. One of the children on the school bus, a 10-year-old Exeter girl, complained of minor injuries but was released to her mother at the scene, who stated she would be taking her daughter in for medical treatment on her own.
Everyone involved was wearing a seatbelt, with the exception of the passenger on the school bus. No one was arrested as alcohol and drugs did not appear to be a factor in the crash.
