1 person dead after Jennings County school bus crash
Indiana State Police are investigating a school bus crash this morning that left one person dead in Jennings County.
The crash happened before 7:30 a.m. at the split of State Roads 7 and 3, just south of Vernon. No children were on board the bus at the time of the crash, says Sgt. Stephen Wheeles with the state police.
The initial investigation by the Indiana State Police-Versailles Crash Reconstruction Team indicated that a Jennings County School Corporation school bus driven by 72-year-old Robert J. Ringer, of North Vernon, was traveling southbound on State Road 7. A pickup truck, driven by 48-year-old Harry T. Palmer, of North Vernon, was traveling northbound on State Road 7. Authorities say that Palmer attempted to turn southbound onto State Road 3 in front of the bus. The bus struck the passenger side of Palmers vehicle before coming to stop in the middle of State Road 7. Palmers truck came to rest just off the roadway.
A passenger on the bus, 74-year-old Mary Boyd, of North Vernon, sustained fatal injuries in the crash. She was transported to St. Vincent-Jennings Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Ringer was not injured. Palmer and a passenger in his vehicle, 44-year-old Steven P. Graham, of North Vernon, where both transported to St. Vincent-Jennings Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
ISP say Boyd was a bus aide that road on the bus route to monitor the students. She had been employed with the Jennings County School Corporation as an aide for approximately ten years.
Toxicology results are pending and the investigation is ongoing.