Ten students and two adults suffered non-life-threatening injuries Tuesday morning after a collision involving a car and a Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) bus in Silver Spring, according to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MFRCS) officials.
According to a social media post by MCFRS spokesperson David Pazos, a car and MCPS school bus collided at about 7:15 a.m. at the intersection of Norwood Road and New Hampshire Avenue in Silver Spring.
Pazos said the 10 students and two adults were transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No one had been trapped in either vehicle.
According to MCPS spokesperson Liliana López, the bus was en route to James Hubert Blake High School at 300 Norwood Road in Silver Spring. The intersection of Norwood Road and New Hampshire Avenue is little more than 1 mile from the high school.
López confirmed Tuesday morning that 10 students were transported with minor injuries and said MCPS is still gathering all the details about the incident. As of about 8:40 a.m., Pazos said the fire department left the scene, and MCPS was contacting the students’ parents.
No information was provided about how or why the collision occurred. Montgomery County police spokesperson Casandra Tressler said the incident was an active and ongoing investigation.
According to MCPS policy regarding “accidents” involving buses, the Department of Transportation provides training and maintains guidelines for handling the incidents. If students or staff involved are hospitalized, according to the regulation, administrators or supervisors from the school involved and Department of Transportation will be sent to the hospital.
The Department of Transportation will “maintain and follow reporting and investigative procedures for all accidents,” according to the regulation.
According to regulation EBI-RA about reviewing preventable accidents, a bus accident review committee will determine within five work days if the accident was preventable. The committee will be made up of a representative from the bus drivers union, SEIU Local 500, a representative from the Department of Transportation training and safety unit and a transportation depot manager. The bus driver can appeal the decision.
If bus operators are charged with a preventable accident, they may be required to attend an unpaid retraining program or be suspended for three days.
