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School bus minivan and semi-truck collision shuts down eastbound Route 33

By Billie Owens

A tractor-trailer vs. school bus minivan accident is reported at 2300 Genesee St., Pembroke. One child is onboard the minivan. They are reporting no injuries, but the minivan is underneath the tractor-trailer and the occupants are pinned inside. The East Pembroke fire chief on scene says the tractor-trailer is blocking traffic. The location is between Angling and Read roads. Corfu Fire Police are called for traffic control at Route 33 and Angling Road. Eastbound traffic will be shut down.

UPDATE 7:32 a.m.: A family member, possibly the child's parent, is at the scene.

UPDATE 8:10 a.m.: Fire Police remain on scene but other responders are back in service. The road will be reopened shortly.

UPDATE 8:11 a.m.: The door of the minivan was jammed shut but firefighters got it unstuck quickly once they arrived, and the child was picked up by a family member.

UPDATE 8:30 a.m.: Photos added. The milk truck was backing into a dairy farm. The driver of the van reportedly told deputies he didn't see the truck. One or both drivers may be cited, pending conclusion of the investigation. There were no injuries.

Jim Horncastle

I'm dad and yes it was me. My 5 year old is at the doctors now getting checked out but seems to be alright. I'm looking forward to seeing any pictures you might have taken at the scene.

Apr 23, 2015, 8:31am Permalink
Ed Glow

Why the van driver didn't see a large shiny stainless steel object with reflective strips along the entire length of it blocking the whole lane they were driving in has my curiosity up there pretty high.

I'd be interested to know the answer to that question but I'd bet ten dollars to a donut the truck driver gets ticketed for something.

Apr 23, 2015, 11:08am Permalink
david spaulding

if in fact this professional driver failed to see a semi-truck in the roadway, the school district must make today the drivers last day transporting children.

Apr 23, 2015, 3:40pm Permalink
Raymond Richardson

Judging from the pictures the tractor tanker was making a left, and from the distance the cab is onto the intersecting road, there is no way the minivan driver did not see that and should have stopped. Obviously the minivan driver doesn't realize those big rigs are not going more than 15 MPH from a dead stop, and the truck driver was probably in 3rd gear by the time the crash happened.

Hopefully the truck driver is not cited, but the minivan driver is.

Apr 24, 2015, 8:31am Permalink
Ed Hartgrove

Raymond. As the story clearly states that, "The milk truck was backing into a dairy farm", I seriousy doubt the "...truck driver was probably in 3rd gear".

As I only backed a 'semi' up once, I'm no expert, but, back in '67, reverse was the only 'backing-up' gear available.

Apr 24, 2015, 9:09am Permalink
Raymond Richardson

"The milk truck was backing into a dairy farm", I seriousy doubt the ".

That was updated to the story after I posted my comment.

Sorry to deflate your tire Ed!

Apr 24, 2015, 10:31am Permalink
Ed Hartgrove

My tires will be just fine, Raymond. But, thanks for being concerned about (one of) them. What a guy!

As for the timeline, I believe the last update, which reads, "UPDATE 8:30 a.m.: Photos added. The milk truck was backing into a dairy farm. The driver of the van reportedly told deputies he didn't see the truck. One or both drivers may be cited, pending conclusion of the investigation. There were no injuries.", was posted at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday (not this morning).
But, as usual, I could very well be wrong. As the "update" doesn't list the 'date', I'm guessing only Billie would know, for sure.

Apr 24, 2015, 10:54am Permalink

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