Car strikes school bus on Green Valley Road: Union Bridge man charged with negligent driving
March 06--A Union Bridge man faces a negligent driving charge after he crashed into the back of a county school bus on Green Valley Road on Tuesday.
Timothy Deane Jr., 31, and four students were taken to hospitals as a result of the crash, according to the Frederick County Sheriff's Office.
Deane, who was driving a Kia Soul, was flown to Meritus Medical Center in Washington County with non-life-threatening injuries shortly before 4:15 p.m., according to the sheriff's office. Deane drove his car into the back of the school bus and sustained heavy front-end damage. The car had to be pushed from the road by a State Highway Administration truck. The bus had minor damage to the rear bumper and was able to be driven to the shoulder of the road.--
The driver of the bus was identified as Jean Brandenburg, 59, of Thurmont. According to a news release, the bus was stopped in the northbound lane of Md. 75 with its alternating red lights on as students exited.
While students exited, Deane ran into the back of the bus after not slowing down his vehicle, according the release.
Fifteen students, 14 from New Market Middle School and one from New Market Elementary, were on the bus, according to Dian Nelson, communication coordinator with Frederick County Public Schools. Four New Market Middle School students suffered what appeared to be minor neck and knee injuries and were taken to Frederick Memorial Hospital. Brandenburg was not injured.
Micah Hewitson, an eighth-grader at New Market Middle School, said students were left in a daze after the crash.
"I went flying off of my seat and bumped my leg," Hewitson said. "I was so shocked, I didn't know what to do; then I got really scared."
Among the four students who were taken to the hospital, two had parents who came to the scene and went with them to the hospital, Nelson said. The other two had parents notified by the school system.
Among the 11 students who weren't taken to the hospital, two were picked up by their parents and nine went home on a different bus, Nelson said.
Meanwhile, traffic near Old Annapolis and Glissans Mill roads trickled through the intersection as rescue crews responded to the scene. The road was shutdown for about an hour and a half.
Kirsten Tydings was on her way to a riding lesson when she came upon the accident. She remained at the scene for about a half-hour, wondering if students inside the bus were OK.
"We were just sitting here, and more and more emergency vehicles started to come," Tydings said.
All lanes of Md. 75 between Old Annapolis and Glissans Mill roads were reopened as of 5:05 p.m., according to the Maryland State Highway Administration's website.
A short while later, at about 4:15 p.m., emergency workers were on the scene of another crash involving a New Market ambulance in the intersection of North Market and West 7th streets in Frederick, near Frederick Memorial Hospital. Responders at the scene would neither confirm nor deny that a patient in the vehicle was also one of the victims involved in Tuesday's school bus crash.
Max Hart, 18, said he was driving a maroon Volvo station wagon on North Market Street when he collided with a white Chevrolet Cavalier being driven by Heather Hoff, 23, of Frederick. Hart said Hoff had stopped for the ambulance, which was traveling on West 7th Street in the direction of Frederick Memorial Hospital. Hoff's vehicle was pushed into the intersection and struck by the ambulance. The front end of Hoff's vehicle was crumpled, and she was limping slightly on the scene but said she was OK.
"That was scary," Hoff said.
Hart said it took about four minutes for another ambulance to arrive to pick up the patient from the ambulance involved in the downtown crash. He said the patient appeared to be either a high school freshman or middle school aged.
Dan Healy, a battalion chief for Frederick County Fire and Rescue, would neither confirm nor deny that the patient in the New Market ambulance was from the earlier school bus crash. He wouldn't say how long it took for a second ambulance to arrive on scene. The hospital is only a few blocks from where the crash occurred.
"I'm sure it was fast," Healy said.
Staff reporter Josh Poltilove contributed to this article.
Copyright 2013 - The Frederick News-Post, Md.
