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Shortly before 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 16, a school bus that had just left Grafton Village Elementary School with a dozen students on board was being followed by a blue Volkswagen sedan in the 1300 block of Brooke Road, a spokesperson for the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.
According to investigators, the driver of the Volkswagen went into the oncoming lane of traffic, across the double-yellow line, in an attempt to pass the school bus, at which point it was struck by a red Dodge SUV, “nearly head-on.”
The Volkswagen’s momentum took it into the school bus, then struck an embankment and overturned. The impact also sent the school bus into an opposite embankment and rolled it onto the driver’s side of the vehicle.
“A combined effort of the community, deputies, Stafford County Fire and Rescue, and Stafford County Public School personnel worked to assess those involved in the crash, comfort the brave children, notify anxious parents, transport the injured to the appropriate medical facility and unify the children with their family,” a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said.
Two students and the drivers of the Volkswagen and Dodge were all transported to area hospitals for evaluation and treatment of injuries that were described as “non-life-threatening.”
The crash remains under investigation. Officials say that numerous witnesses have already been interviewed at the scene, but anyone with additional information has been asked to contact Stafford County Sheriff’s Deputy R.A. Weatherholtz by calling (540) 658-4400.
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