By Ryan Robinson and Jennifer Todd
Intelligencer Journal/New Era
LANCASTER, Pa. — Five students were injured early Wednesday when a sport utility vehicle and school bus collided on Millersville Pike, police said.
The crash happened at 7:23 a.m. just east of Ridgewood Road.
The students and the driver of the SUV were taken to Lancaster General Hospital for treatment of minor injuries, Manheim Township police Sgt. Robert Baldwin said.
The seven students who were on the bus at the time of the crash all attend Lancaster Mennonite School, according to Lancaster Mennonite Superintendent J. Richard Thomas. The students attend the middle school and high school.
None had visible injuries, but they were taken to the hospital “for observation and preventative X-rays,” he said. Most of the students had been released as of midday Wednesday.
“Whenever one knows there is a bus accident, it is a major concern,” Thomas said. “We are grateful it wasn’t more serious than it was.”
Baldwin said Isabel Rivera, 25, of Michelle Drive, was driving the bus north towards Lancaster when she overlooked a routine bus stop.
Rivera activated the bus’s amber lights and stopped suddenly, he said. The SUV, driven by Karen Rutt, 57, of Lake Wood Drive, Pequea, slammed into the back of the bus.
Baldwin said Rivera will be charged with failure to activate amber lights at least 150 feet prior to stopping. Rutt will be charged with driving too fast for conditions, he said.
The Shultz Transportation Co. bus was headed to the Lancaster Mennonite campus on Lincoln Highway at the time of the wreck, Thomas said.
School District of Lancaster contracts with Shultz to transport students in the district who attend private schools, district spokeswoman Kelly Burkholder said.
Millersville Pike was closed for an hour after the crash.
Copyright 2011 Lancaster Newspapers, Inc.