Pictured above is a Marysville school bus which collided with a pickup truck south of Plain City on U.S. 42 Friday night on its way back from the Hilliard Bradley football game. The 45 players and two coaches on the bus, as well as the bus driver, escaped injury in the crash. The truck driver was transported to a Columbus hospital. (Photo submitted)
A bus loaded with Marysville football players and coaches returning from Friday’s game at Hilliard Bradley collided with a pickup truck that had run a stop sign just south of Plain City.
According to Marysville Superintendent Diane Allen, the 45 players and two coaches escaped serious injury, thanks in part to the quick maneuvers of bus driver Rick Spence. The bus driver was also uninjured.
“We couldn’t have asked for him to have done any more,” Allen said of Spence.
According to preliminary Ohio State Highway Patrol reports, the bus was traveling north on U.S. 42 after 10 p.m. when a white pickup truck traveling west on Converse-Huff Road ran a stop sign and caused a collision. Allen said the preliminary impact occurred on the right side of the bus, near the door.
The crash forced the Marysville bus across the road and into a ditch, where it collided with a utility pole before coming to rest in a field. Allen said live electric wires dropped onto the roadway, but fell well behind the bus itself.
“When you looked look at it and see the power lines are down and they are hot… it reminds you to count your blessings,” Allen said.
The driver of the truck, who was not identified by the state patrol, was transported to Riverside Methodist Hospital after the crash. Troopers do not believe drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash, but held final determination until being able to interview the driver of the truck.
Allen said the Marysville athletes and coaches were checked out by medics at the scene and were cleared to leave. Some called parents to pick them up, while others waited for a second bus to arrive to take them home at about 11:30 p.m.
The bus involved in the crash was transporting mostly reserve players and Allen felt the athletes would be able to play in today’s junior varsity game against Hilliard Bradley.
“I’m just really happy everyone is OK,” Allen said. “We can replace a bus.”