New details emerged Friday in an accident between a minivan and a Cobb Community Transit bus that critically injured three children.
No one has been charged in the Tuesday afternoon crash because the accident remains under investigation, Smyrna police spokesman Louis Defense said.
But in a report the police department released Friday, the bus driver and witnesses to the accident all agreed on one thing: The bus struck the van after the driver of the van failed to yield.
About 3 p.m. Tuesday, a 2001 Chevrolet Venture pulled out of day care center in the 600 block of Windy Hill Road. At the same time, a bus was headed westbound on Windy Hill Road toward the intersection of Old Spring Road.
According to the report, the bus driver and several witnesses said the driver of the van turned right to head westbound on Windy Hill Road but failed to yield. That caused the bus to strike the driver’s side door, fenders and front bumper of the van, officials wrote in the report.
There were a total of three children in the van, all between 2 and 7 years old. One of them, a 4-year-old girl, was “ejected from the left passenger side window and onto the ground face first at impact,” according to the report. All three were taken to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite, where they remained Friday in the intensive care unit.
Two adults in the van and two passengers in the bus were taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital. Their conditions were not known Friday.
In a statement issued Tuesday night, Cobb County said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the driver, the children, their families and their caregivers involved in the accident in Smyrna. … As always, county staff will cooperate as needed with the city of Smyrna Police Department on the investigation as it progresses.”
About the Author
