Update: Driver in Norwood school bus crash identified as Benjamin Walter Anger, condition improves to 'fair'

Peterborough County OPP investigate a collision between a school bus and a pickup on Highway 7 west of Norwood Wednesday morning. The driver of the pick up was airlifted to hospital and there were minor injuries with the children on the bus. Highway 7 remains closed.
Photo: Clifford Skarstedt, Examiner

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Source: Peterborough Examiner

ONTARIO - The condition of a 20-year-old Madoc man severely injured in a Wednesday morning crash between his pickup truck and a school bus on Hwy. 7 has improved, police said.

Benjamin Anger remains in Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, but has been upgraded to fair from critical, Peterborough County OPP said yesterday.

The cause of the collision, which involved a school bus packed with Lakefield District Secondary School students, is still under investigation, police said.

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Source: Peterborough Examiner

ONTARIO - Police have identified the 20-year-old driver of a pickup truck that crossed the centre line of Highway 7 Wednesday morning and collided head-on with a school bus packed with Lakefield high school students.

Benjamin Walter Anger of Madoc was airlifted from the scene just west of Norwood and remained yesterday in the intensive care unit at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Peterborough County OPP said. Police originally said the man was from Marmora.

"His condition is still critical," Const. Iain McEwan said yesterday morning.

Investigating officer Const. Rich Nie said Anger was driving westbound when his red pickup truck crossed the centre line into the eastbound lane just west of the Eighth Line of Asphodel.

The pickup collided with the school bus near the centre line when the truck attempted to return to its own lane, Nie said.

"For an unknown reason, the pickup truck crosses the centre line and then comes back and they hit each other as the bus is trying to avoid the collision," Nie said.

Anger was the only person seriously injured in the crash, which could have been much worse given the bus's cargo.

The bus was carrying a Grade 10 Lakefield District Secondary School history class to Ottawa for a field trip at the Canadian War Museum. It contained 45 students, three teachers and the bus driver.

Nine students, one teacher and the bus driver were treated at area hospitals with minor injuries.

The bus driver -- Phil Yates -- has been lauded for keeping the bus under control during and after the crash.

"After the collision, he was actually able to steer (the bus) into the ditch perpendicular to the road. It's a very steep ditch there. Had it gone in on an angle, it probably would have rolled," Nie said. "It could have been a lot worse for everyone on that bus."

The cause of the crash is still under investigation and factors such as speed and weather conditions are being looked at, Nie said.

"We're going through 47 people's witness statements on a bus plus independent witnesses," Nie said.

"We're trying to piece it together. That's why it's taking longer than normal."

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Source: Peterborough Examiner

School bus and pickup collide west of Norwood ON

ONTARIO - A man was airlifted to a Toronto hospital this morning and nine Lakefield high school students were hospitalized after a serious head-on collision between a school bus and a pickup just west of Norwood.

The bus was taking 45 Lakefield District Secondary School student and three teachers to a field trip in Ottawa, Kawartha District Pine Ridge District School Board spokeswoman Judy Malfara confirmed.

The bus collided with a truck at about 6:30 a.m. just west of the Eighth Line of Asphodel on Highway 7, OPP Const. Iain McEwan said at the scene.

Six students and a teacher were immediately sent to hospital and two more students were taken shortly after the crash, Malfara said.

All students were treated with "non serious" injuries, McEwan said.

While there is one potential case of a broken nose, Malfara described most of the injuries as split lips and bloody noses.

The pickup driver was airlifted from the scene to the trauma unit at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, police said.

"He has very serious injuries," McEwan said.

The man's name and age have not been released yet, McEwan said.

At the scene, a badly damaged red pickup truck was positioned in the westbound lane facing the wrong direction. The school bus was in a ditch in a forested area about 30 feet away standing upright. The hood of the bus had been torn off and strewn to the opposite side of the highway.

The occupants of the school bus had to make an emergency exit through the rear of the bus, Malfara said.

Those who were not injured were picked up by another bus and taken back to the school where they were met with a counselor.

The driver of the bus is being heralded for his actions in keeping the bus upright, possibly preventing a major catastrophe, Malfara said.

"Everyone I've heard from has had high praise for the bus driver because he was able to keep the bus upright during and after the collision," Malfara said. "Apparently, when the bus went off the road, it was in a wooded area and he managed to get it right through a very small clearing where there were no tress. He was calm."

A collision reconstruction officer is currently on the scene determining the cause of the collision. It's too early to speculate if weather played a role, McEwan said this morning.

Highway 7 has been closed between County Road 38 and the Eighth Line of Asphodel. All traffic is being diverted from those locations, McEwan said, adding the road will likely remain closed to noon at the earliest.