Two Bismarck Public School Buses crashed into one another this morning.
At 8 a.m. one bus was traveling southbound on Washington Street, and the other was going east on Durango Drive. The southbound bus veered off and t-boned the second bus on the front side.
There were 40 kids between the two buses. The 72 or 73-year-old bus driver from the first bus was taken to the hospital. One child complained of neck pain and was also taken to the hospital. Their conditions are unknown at this point.
Bismarck Police Officer Lynn Wanner says although school buses do not have seatbelts, they are safer than any car.
She cited a Federal Act from years ago called compartmentalization. The Act requires school buses to make the seat backs taller and install energy-absorbing foam in the seats in case kids hit their heads on the seat in front of them.
Officer Wanner says you are eight times more likely to get hit by another car walking to a bus stop than from riding on a bus.
She adds that buses are the safest vehicles on the road because they are bright yellow, and other drivers generally drive safer when in the presence of a bus with kids on it.
