No one was injured Thursday afternoon when a small vehicle crashed into a Carter County school bus carrying kids home from school.
There were 22 children on board Bus 77 along with the bus driver when the crash happened on Willow Springs Road near the intersection of that road with Campbell-Rash Road.
One of the students told emergency workers she had hit her chest with her cellphone when she bumped into the seat during the crash. Members of the Carter County Rescue Squad checked her out on scene and then sent her home with her mother, who came to the crash site.
The crash was investigated by the Tennessee Highway Patrol due to the fact it involved a county vehicle.
The 17-year-old driver of a small red Ford car crossed over the center of the road and collided with the bus in a sharp curve, Trooper Bruce Bolton said.
The juvenile driver of the car complained of soreness following the wreck and he, too, was checked out and cleared at the scene by the Rescue Squad.
The bus sustained minor damage to the front driver’s side. The Ford also sustained damage to its front driver’s side.
Another school bus was brought to the scene of the wreck to pick up the children and continue the bus route. As the children walked from one bus to the other a few of them paused and asked the driver of the car if he was okay.
Assistant Director of Schools Peggy Campbell and Hunter Elementary School Principal Mark Revis responded to the crash site to check on the students.