L. Todd Spencer / The Virginian-Pilot
Posted on 10/24/2005 4:41:36 PM PDT by csvset
Motorist killed in crash with Beach school bus; 9 students hurt Last updated: 6:45 PM
By DUANE BOURNE, The Virginian-Pilot
© October 24, 2005
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| Police say the car at left crossed the double yellow line on Princess Anne Road and hit the school bus head-on. L. Todd Spencer / The Virginian-Pilot
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Information hotline: The school system has established a special number - 427-3232 - for parents seeking information about students on the bus. The number should be used only by Kellam school families.
Related: Four in truck killed in crash with N.C. school bus
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The car crossed the double yellow line in the 1500 block of Princess Anne Road, near Muddy Creek Road, then careened violently and burst into flames.
The car's driver, Jesus Valdivia, 41, who lived in the 1000 block of Gill Court, in the Oakcrest apartment complex, was killed.
Valdivia was a non-resident alien from Mexico whose driving privileges had been revoked before the accident. Police contacted his 19-year-old son and were working with the U.S. State Department to find his parents, said police spokeswoman Rene Ball.
His passenger, Karen Traino, 42, of the 4000 block of Princess Anne Road, was hospitalized with serious injuries.
Records show that Valdivia was cited for four traffic infractions in Chesapeake this year, including one in September for driving with a revoked license. He also was convicted last year of driving with a suspended license twice in Virginia Beach.
This afternoon, investigators from the fatal crash team tried to figure out why Valdivia's car crossed into oncoming traffic.
Bus No. 40 was heading north on the two-lane road at about 6:50 a.m., 35 minutes before the school's first bell. It had just passed North Muddy Creek Road, Flanagan's Produce Farms and a sign advertising pumpkins when the driver noticed the sedan had crossed the line.
The bus driver veered toward the shoulder, where there was a ditch. "She got over as much as she could," Ball said.
The brown Toyota smacked into the nose of the bus. It careened to a stop about 10 yards from the bus's rear bumper, fire pouring from its engine compartment.
Residents on Princess Anne Road were startled by the crash and the sirens that followed. Several people ran to the car and bus to make sure the passengers were OK. Someone grabbed a fire extinguisher and doused the flames under the car's hood, Ball said.
The wreck left a trail of oil. A power drill and Nubuck construction boots lay on the asphalt, alongside shattered glass and a white hard hat.
"It looked like the bus ran over the car," said Steve Kent, 45, who was taking his daughter to school and missed the crash by about 10 minutes. He stood with several onlookers at the 7-Eleven store about a quarter-mile north of the scene.
"The car was so mangled, you could not make out the model," Kent said.
Within minutes, emergency personnel arrived and examined the students. They extracted the people pinned inside the car, but by then, the driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
The bus driver, identified as Patty Barnes, 54, and eight students were taken by ambulance to Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital with minor injuries. Another student later was taken to the hospital after complaining of aches and pains, Ball said.
Traino was airlifted to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. She was listed in critical condition.
Today's accident was the first crash for the bus driver, who has worked for the Virginia Beach school system 12 years, said David Pace, director for pupil transportation services.
Because police said the bus driver was not at fault, she will be allowed to drive again when she is physically and emotionally ready. The bus is repairable, Pace said.
Staff writer Amy Jeter contributed to this report. Reach Duane Bourne at (757) 222-5150 or at duane.bourne@pilotonline.com
Ping
They'll probably make it a hate crime to mention incidents like this.
Sad, so sad when so many "legal" offspring in the making will not be born to be true citizens holding his name to honor. /s
Gosh if I maintain this roll I may be up for a high level position at CNN.
If they're here illegally, send them back to Mexico.
And still here.
I'm guessing, "Because he is was an Flaming, F'n A**H***," isn't good enough?
The bigger question is, "Why is catch and release practiced on those caught driving suspended/driving revoked regardless of ethnicity, let alone for illegals?"
Do I really have to say anything?
The American blood just keeps flowing....
Of course they waited a long time to announce this, hoping everyone forgot about those that burned to death.
FYI, Virginia does not give drivers licenses to illegal aliens.
Therefore, since this guy had a revoked license, he is probably not illegal but a non resident alien as stated in the article.
They don't need Virginia to give them drivers licenses. They get their own for cheap, along with SSN numbers etc etc etc etc.
Hey nice. Lets import a few more million of these.
Obviously, our laws met little to this guy.
Muchas gracias Presidente Bush!
If we would just instantly deport these people for offenses such as this driver's earlier infractions we might at least get some better driving out of our illegal amigos.
For sale all over Mexifornia. You forgot, they can buy birth certificates too.
The rape of America by Mexico continues unabated...
And with his driving record, legal or illegal alien, good riddance. It is the only way, other than locking them up, to keep them off the road...the main point of my previous post.
You know, these stories are never ending. Every day or so we read about illegals murdering citizens, either accidentally, in intentionally. This used to happen all the time only in the southwest. Now it's Virginia, NC, Maine, Georgia, everywhere.
This has just got to stop. Just too many damn victims.
"They also announced two days ago that the bus in Texas, that was evacuating during the hurricane, where the bus caught fire and blew up, burning to death 25 elderly from Texas, was an illegal alien, who has been arrested on negligent homicide charges."
I heard that people on the road were yelling at him that they saw flames coming from the bus but since he didn't speak English he didn't understand?
The new euphemism for illegal!
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