Icy, windy, and snowy conditions caused a Holden Rural Academy (HRA) bus to end up in the ditch on Friday, Jan. 24. Alberta RCMP reported that Vegreville RCMP were on the scene of a single vehicle bus roll over in the early afternoon.
The accident caused serious injury to one student who went to the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton. The other student on board and the bus driver sustained minor injuries. HRA Transportation Director Hank Janzen said both students were back at school the following Monday.
The bus, one of HRA’s little busses able to transport up to 20 students, lost control at Highway 16 and Highway 857 near Vegreville.
“This was due to very slippery road conditions combined with wind. The bus went into the ditch backwards and then tipped on the side, at about 1:15 p.m.”
Janzen said there can be up to nine students on that afternoon route, which takes the senior high students to their work placements, part of the public charter school’s mission to provide Place-Based Education. The other students on board the bus that day had already been dropped off in Vegreville.
Janzen said the bus is slightly damaged and that the school is planning to repair the bus.
“There is some damage to the front driver’s side fender, the driver side door, and one of the clearance lights was broken off,” he said.
Kari Janzen
Staff Reporter