By Tony Burchyns
The Vallejo Times Herald
VALLEJO, Calif. — A Vallejo Transit bus smacked a Toyota van Wednesday morning, sending four riders to area hospitals with complaints of whiplash, authorities said.
The crash occurred at about 11:15 a.m. on northbound Sonoma Boulevard near Yolano Drive. The Route 1 bus was pulling from a stop when it broadsided a Toyota Previa that had crossed its path.
The van was making a right turn into the Bank of the West and Ace Hardware parking lot when it stopped short because of an approaching bicyclist, a witness said.
Four passengers were removed from the bus on stretchers and transported by ambulance to area hospitals. Vallejo Fire Capt. Al Love said their injuries appeared “minor.” Love added that backboards and C-collars were used to immobilize them in case of spinal injuries.
“They complained of neck and back pain,” Love said.
Neither Vallejo Transit driver Ken Trevillion, 50, nor 19-year-old Jereene Balassu, the van’s driver, were injured.
No one else was in the van.
Police opened an investigation at the scene, but no conclusions were immediately reached.
“We don’t know who was at fault,” Vallejo police officer Dan Acfalle said. “It might have been purely an accident.”
Under California law, motorists must yield the right-of-way to transit buses signaling to reenter a traffic lane.
Acfalle said the van’s driver thought the bus was stationary when she turned in front of it. The officer did not indicate whether the bus was signaling.
Kathy Cohrs, a witness who was standing across the street, said her friend was coming out of the parking lot on a bike when the van stopped short to avoid hitting her.
“She (the van driver) was in the right lane, but going around the bus,” Cohrs said. “She saw (the bicyclist) and not the bus, and the bus just caught her.”
Trevillion declined to comment about the crash. Vallejo Transportation on Superintendent Jeanine Wooley could not be reached Wednesday afternoon.
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