Car strikes pedestrian, hits empty Marietta schoolbus

A vehicle struck and seriously injured a pedestrian at a Marietta intersection early Friday morning, then collided with a school bus on the way to its first pickup of the day, police and school said.

Reports from the scene indicated three injuries, with one person trapped for a time, Marietta police Officer Mark Bishop said.

A 2002 Honda Civic driven by Laytoya Spencer, 30, was traveling northbound on Powder Springs Street when it struck pedestrian Sandra Juarez, 19, who was crossing the street. The Civic then crossed into the southbound lanes and struck a 2003 Infiniti I35 driven by Holly Davidson, 30.

All three were transported to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, according to Marietta policeman Officer Mario Beneito. Juarez has two broken legs. Spencer was treated for a knee injury. Davidson suffered minor scratches and bruises, Beneito said.

The accident happened about 6:45 a.m. at the intersection of Powder Springs and Booth roads and tied up rush hour traffic on Powder Springs Road.

The Marietta city school bus was empty except for the driver, schools spokesman Thomas Algarin said. He said the bus was on the way to pick up special education students when the accident happened. Algarin said the bus, which had damage to the liftgate side, returned to the bus depot and another one was dispatched to the route. The bus driver, Torechia Smith was not injured.

Juarez was not a student, Algarin said. Emergency workers had requested helicopter evacuation, but foggy conditions made it too unsafe for the air ambulance to fly, the dispatcher said.