A dump truck failed to stop for traffic already halted behind a school bus on North Tuckahoe Road in Monroe Township Thursday afternoon, triggering a five-vehicle chain-reaction crash that sent 14 people to the hospital, including 12 children. A juvenile riding in the rear seat of a passenger vehicle became trapped when the car was crushed in the pileup, and had to be extricated by emergency crews before being taken to a hospital, according to police.
According to NJ.com, the dump truck hit a passenger vehicle from behind after traffic had stopped for a second school bus that was not involved in the collision, setting off the collision. Of the 14 people sent to the hospital, nine were children who had been riding the bus involved in the crash, while two adults and the driver of another vehicle were also treated. Officials said all of the hospitalized had non-life-threatening injuries, and everyone was either released or remained in stable condition afterward.
The crash shut down North Tuckahoe Road between Glassboro Road and Braves Boulevard/Twelve Oaks Drive for several hours before it reopened at 7:30 p.m., per the same account. As reported by CBS Philadelphia, the response on the 700 block of North Tuckahoe Road required the Williamstown Fire Department and Gloucester County's hazardous materials team, who worked to clear a large fluid spill from the roadway. The bus involved was traveling from Oak Knoll Elementary School, the school's district said, adding that students aboard were evaluated at the hospital purely as a precaution and all were later released.
Second Crash Site Required Its Own Rescue Response
Emergency crews dispatched multiple ambulances to the scene around 4 p.m. Thursday after reports that the juvenile was entrapped in the rear seat of a crushed passenger vehicle. The driver of the other vehicle involved received treatment for minor injuries and was transported to Jefferson Hospital Washington Township. Motor vehicle violations are pending against parties involved in the crash, officials said, while the dump truck company has said it is cooperating with the ongoing investigation.
The Monroe Township crash came less than 36 hours after a separate school bus crash Wednesday morning in neighboring Washington Township, on just the second day of the school year. That collision happened at 8:43 a.m. at the intersection of Pitman Downer Road and Orion Way, where four children riding to Bells Elementary School and the driver of a car were hospitalized. Those four students were evaluated at Jefferson Hospital Washington Township as a precaution, the Inquirer's report notes, highlighting a cluster of Gloucester County school bus collisions in the first week of classes.
Counselors Set to Support Students After Back-to-Back Crashes
Oak Knoll Elementary School will have counselors available Friday to support students affected by Thursday's crash, and both crash investigations remain ongoing. New Jersey requires all new school buses to carry three-point lap and shoulder seat belts under N.J.S.A. 39:3B-10, a 2018 upgrade to state law that makes New Jersey one of fewer than 10 states with such strict requirements, according to CBS New York. CBS New York identifies Miranda Vargas, age 10, as a child killed in a 2018 school bus crash. Federal lawmakers later introduced Miranda's Law, requiring nationwide real-time reporting of bus driver traffic violations to school districts within 24 hours.
State law also requires drivers on undivided roads to stop at least 25 feet from a school bus with its red lights flashing, per Justia Law, with violators facing a minimum $100 fine and up to 15 days in jail or community service for a first offense. New Jersey lawmakers have also introduced Assembly Bill 545, which would let school districts install automated camera systems on buses to catch and fine drivers who illegally pass stopped buses, carrying a $250 civil penalty.
How Common Are These Crashes, Really?
Nationally, school-bus-related crashes can harm occupants of passenger vehicles as well as bus passengers. School-bus-related crashes remain statistically rare overall. Yellow school buses carry students daily across the country, and buses are generally considered safer for students than traveling in personal vehicles.
