School Bus Crashes Into Tree, Driver Hospitalized: Westport PD

WESTPORT, CT — A school bus driver was hospitalized after crashing into a tree Friday morning while elementary school children were on the bus, according to Westport police. The driver needed to be extricated from the bus, which was heading to Kings Highway Elementary School, according to Lt. Anthony Prezioso.

The bus driver was taken to Norwalk Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Prezioso said injuries to passengers were “minor in nature and none required any immediate transport to the hospital.”

The crash occurred around 8 a.m. at the intersection of Sylvan Road North and Orchard Hill Road. Fire officials said all of the students had been removed from the bus by good Samaritans and none complained about any injuries before crews arrived at the scene. The bus driver was trapped by the dashboard and required extrication “using hydraulic equipment by the Westport and Norwalk Fire Departments,” fire officials said.

“Initial findings at the scene show that the bus had been traveling southbound on Sylvan Road North,” Prezioso wrote in a news release. “Upon reaching the intersection of Sylvan Road North and Orchard Hill Road the bus veered off the roadway striking a traffic sign, stone wall and large tree causing significant front-end damage.”

At the time of the accident, Westport police immediately “began coordinating with the Westport Board of Education to facilitate prompt notification to affected parents as well reunification with their children,” Prezioso said.

Police are at the scene conducting an investigation. Sylvan Road North is closed to through traffic from Murray Street to Marion Road as police investigate.

“Residents living within this closure will have the ability to access the area,” Prezioso said. “This closure will be in place for the next several hours, however, traffic officers are on scene to assist motorists seeking alternate routes around the incident. A second NIXLE advisory message will be sent out at the time the roadway is fully re-opened; again, anticipated to be later this afternoon.”