'It happened in seconds': School bus rear-ended in North Tryon

RCMP and officials from the P.E.I. Public Schools Branch are investigating an accident involving a school bus and a car Wednesday morning.

No students were injured, car driver suffered minor injuries

Sam Juric, Kevin Yarr · CBC News · Posted: Feb 05, 2020 10:07 AM EST | Last Updated: February 5, 2020

Another bus was dispatched to take the children to school. (Lisa Gallant/Facebook)

RCMP and officials from the P.E.I. Public Schools Branch are investigating an accident involving a school bus and a car Wednesday morning.

The accident happened on Route 1 in North Tryon at about 8:10 a.m.

"The bus was stopped and the vehicle rear-ended the bus," said RCMP Cpl. Nick Doyle.

"Nobody on the bus was injured. The driver of the car had minor injuries. They were seen by Island EMS and then they were released."

RCMP said the sun in the drivers eyes is believed to have been a factor.

Bus assessed for damage

Public Schools Branch director Parker Grimmer said the students were on their way to Englewood School.

"Their families have been contacted," said Grimmer. "Another bus was dispatched to take those kids to school."

The next second I heard a loud crash.— Lisa Gallant

The bus was assessed for damage and it is OK, he said.

Grimmer said school officials would be busy Wednesday working with RCMP to determine the details of the accident.

Lisa Gallant said she was in her kitchen when she heard a loud crashing sound.

'A loud crash'

Her 13-year-old son, Hunter, was on the bus when the accident happened. She said he wasn't able to sit down before the collision.

"It happened in seconds. One second I saw him crossing the road and then I took my eyes off of it and then the next second I heard a loud crash," she said.

That had to be scary for her.— Lisa Gallant

Gallant said she immediately called 911 and rushed from her house to where the accident had happened.

"Checked on the kids and made sure that they were all OK, she [the driver] had already gotten outside of the car."

'I'm still [shaken] up by it. I guess it's different when you have someone you know involved in it, but I don't think it was anything more than an accident,' says Lisa Gallant. (Al MacCormick/CBC)

She said the children generally handled the accident well, with the exception of a couple of the younger children who appeared to be a little scared.

She said the woman driving the car was with her child.

"That had to be scary for her," Gallant said.

"It was terrifying," Gallant said, "I'm still [shaken] up by it. I guess it's different when you have someone you know involved in it, but I don't think it was anything more than an accident."