Several Dowagiac students were injured early Wednesday morning after their bus driver ran a stop sign and was struck by an oncoming vehicle, turning the bus on its side.
Cass County Sheriff Richard Behnke reported that at approximately 6:43 a.m., deputies were called to a personal injury crash involving a school bus at the intersection of Dewey Lake Street and Atwood Road in Wayne Township.
A Dowagiac Schools bus driver, 40-year-old Dowagiac resident Benjamin Lee Hoopes, was traveling southbound on Atwood Road with four Dowagiac students and another bus driver, 45-year-old Dowagiac resident Roy Payne, when he disregarded a stop sign at the intersection of Dewey Lake and Atwood Road. Christopher Weber, a 26-year-old Dowagiac resident, was traveling westbound on Dewey Lake Street when his vehicle struck the school bus. Weber’s vehicle ended up in a ditch while the bus ended up on it’s side in the roadway.
According to the school district, three students were released to their parents with minor cuts and abrasions. The fourth student along with a second bus driver who was a passenger in the bus, were transported to Borgess Lee Hospital in Dowagiac.
“The fourth student’s parents could not be reached for some time, so I had the student transported to the hospital to be safe,” Whan said. “The parents were contacted by the time the student was in transit to the hospital. The second adult was shaken up and taken to the hospital, but at this time is doing okay.”
Assisting at the accident scene were the Wayne Township Fire Department, Dowagiac Police and Fire Department, Pokagon Tribal Police, Pride Care Ambulance Service and Van Buren ambulance service.
“We’re all very happy that at this time all students, staff and the driver of the other vehicle are doing OK,” said Dowagiac Superintendent Jonathan Whan. “We are very appreciative to the community members who stopped to help and to the emergency responders who arrived to provide needed services.”
The incident remains under investigation.
