A tractor-trailer and a Myers Transportation school van collided Thursday morning on Route 22 in Derry Township, injuring three children who were taken to WVU Medicine Latrobe Hospital, according to emergency officials. The crash was reported just after 8 a.m. at the intersection of Route 22 and Rushwood Road, east of New Alexandria and Keystone Raceway Park. The tractor-trailer ended up jack-knifed in a nearby field.
As reported by TribLIVE.com, the crash happened in the westbound lanes of Route 22. Five patients were at the scene, per Mike Wystepek, while three children were hurt in the school van itself, according to Mark Piantine. The van was coming from the Kiski area and headed toward Indiana County at the time of the collision. Pennsylvania State Police are investigating the cause of the crash, and no news release detailing the circumstances had been issued as of Thursday.
A Van Operator New to the Kiski Area Route
The van involved belongs to Myers Transportation, Inc., a family-owned bus and van operator based in Export founded in 1950 that provides student transportation across Westmoreland County school districts, including Kiski Area and Franklin Regional. The company secured the Kiski Area School District's primary student transportation contract in March 2026 following a months-long bidding process aimed at cutting taxpayer costs, per Citizen Portal. That new arrangement put Myers vans on Kiski-area roads just months before Thursday's crash.
The injured children were taken to WVU Medicine Latrobe Hospital.
A Previous Crash at the Intersection
In November 2023, two people were ejected and injured when a tractor-trailer collided with a pickup truck at the intersection, as reported by WPXI.
Echoes of a Fatal School Van Crash
Thursday's collision follows a similar, far more tragic case involving a commercial truck and a school van elsewhere on Route 22 in Westmoreland County. In a case Hoodline covered in January, a tractor-trailer driver ran a red light in March 2025 and struck a school van, killing the van's driver and ultimately leading to homicide-by-vehicle charges filed against the trucker.
Pennsylvania State Police have not yet said which vehicle had the right-of-way at the Rushwood Road signal Thursday, nor whether any citations or charges are being prepared. The specific ages and current conditions of the three injured children have not been released.
