Adult Students Injured in Calif. Bus-Tractor Crash

DIXON, Calif. (AP) – Several adult special-education students were taken to a hospital with minor injuries when a school bus collided with a farming tractor and flipped onto its side Wednesday morning in a rural area west of Sacramento.

California Highway Patrol spokesman Chris Parker said the mid-sized bus was carrying five students when it struck the tractor at about 7:30 a.m. near Dixon, about 20 miles west of the state capital.

The students are between the ages of 18 and 22 who qualify for special education services, said Brian Dolan, superintendent at Dixon Unified School District.

“More than anything, the kids were shaken up and frightened,” Dolan said.

The school district was contracting the bus through Michaels Transportation Service, Dolan said. A message left with the company wasn’t immediately returned.

Parker said the tractor was driving at about 20 mph with its hazard lights on when the school bus driver, Michael Snyder, tried to pass him on the left on Hackman Road.

“The driver attempted to pass the tractor and crossed a solid yellow line,” Parker said.

As Snyder was passing the tractor, the tractor began to make a left turn. The bus driver tried to straighten the bus and hit the tractor’s left rear tire, which is about 5 feet tall, Parker said, causing the bus to overturn.

Snyder suffered moderate injuries and was taken to a hospital, as were all five students, he said. The tractor’s driver sustained no injuries.

Diane Barney, a spokeswoman for the NorthBay Medical Center in Fairfield, said Snyder was in stable condition.

It is unknown if the bus driver will be cited.