A 27-year-old woman suffered critical injuries after a school bus turned into a St. Cloud crosswalk and struck her Tuesday morning, and police have now identified the 86-year-old driver behind the wheel. The crash happened at 7 a.m. at the intersection of 5th Avenue and 5th Street South.
St. Cloud Police say the woman was walking northbound through the crosswalk when the bus, heading north on 5th Avenue, turned west onto 5th Street and hit her, according to Bring Me The News. The driver told officers he did not see the woman in the crosswalk before the collision. She was rushed to St. Cloud Hospital.
Police have since identified the driver as 86-year-old David Chirhart of Sartell, and the Minnesota State Patrol has been brought in to conduct a crash reconstruction as part of the ongoing investigation, WJON reports. The bus was carrying St. Cloud School District 742 students at the time, but no children aboard were hurt, and Chirhart himself was uninjured.
How an 86-Year-Old Ended Up Driving a School Bus
The bus was operating under a contract with Palmer Bus Service, which serves District 742's student transportation needs. The company actively recruits retirees to fill driver positions and requires applicants to pass pre-employment drug screening and driving-record checks, as well as initial and ongoing safety training, according to the company's own hiring materials from Palmer Bus Service.
Minnesota law sets no upper age limit for commercial school bus drivers, so long as they meet physical health requirements and hold a valid commercial license with passenger and school bus endorsements, per the Minnesota Department of Public Safety's CDL guidance. State statute also requires school bus drivers to pass a medical exam at least every 24 months and retake a written knowledge test every four years when renewing their license, under Minnesota Statute § 171.321, as outlined by FindLaw's summary of the law.
What Minnesota Law Says About Yielding to Pedestrians
Under Minnesota Statute § 169.21, drivers must stop and yield to pedestrians crossing within a marked crosswalk or an unmarked intersection crosswalk, and must remain stopped until the pedestrian has fully cleared the lane, according to the Minnesota Revisor's Office. Failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk is a misdemeanor under state law, carrying penalties of up to 90 days in jail, a $700 fine, or both, per a legal summary from Schwebel, Goetz & Sieben. Whether any citation or charge follows in this case will likely hinge on the findings of the State Patrol's reconstruction.
The investigation remains ongoing, and details are based on law enforcement's current version of events, which could change as the inquiry continues.
Early Morning Hours Carry Elevated Risk Nationally
The timing of Tuesday's crash lines up with a troubling national pattern. A 10-year study released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in July found that pedestrians made up 15% of all fatalities in school-transportation-related crashes across the country between 2015 and 2024, according to School Bus Fleet. That same federal data analysis found more school-age pedestrian fatalities occur between 7 a.m. and 7:59 a.m. than during any other hour of the day, a window that matches almost exactly when the St. Cloud woman was struck.
Minnesota courts have not hesitated to pursue serious charges in similar cases. In July, a driver in a Ramsey County case was sentenced to two years in prison after he pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide for striking and killing a 72-year-old pedestrian in a marked crosswalk in White Bear Lake, as Hoodline previously reported.
No further updates on the woman's condition or the status of the investigation have been released as of Tuesday.
