A dump truck driver was ticketed after a collision Wednesday sent a school bus ricocheting down an Elgin street before it crashed into a home.
The 16 middle-school pupils and the bus driver were treated for minor injuries.
Michael S. Carlson, 27, of Aurora was cited by Elgin police for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and disobeying a red light, police said. He was not injured.
Illinois State Police also cited him for equipment violations after investigators determined that the truck’s brakes were not functioning properly, authorities said.
The truck, which belongs to SH&D General Trucking Inc. in Elburn, was impounded, police said.
The children and the bus driver, Delorise Ramsey, 31, of Elgin, were treated at Sherman Hospital in Elgin.
“This could have been a real tragedy,” said Elgin Police Lt. Paul McCurtain. “We are lucky that no one was seriously injured or even killed.”
The collision occurred about 8:30 a.m. Carlson’s truck ran a red light at Liberty Street and Bluff City Boulevard and struck the bus, which was headed to Kimball Middle School in Elgin, police said.
The bus hit a tree and a utility pole on the east side of Liberty before hitting a car on the west side of the street and crashing into the home in the middle of the block.
“I woke up because the house shook so hard and pictures started falling, and I came over here and looked out the window and saw the bus in my front porch,” said Bridget Delasancha, 35, a third-shift factory worker who was asleep on the first floor of the house.
Her upstairs neighbor, Dave Beauvais, 59, was also asleep. He said he heard the crash but didn’t think much of the ruckus and went back to bed. Neither Delasancha nor Beauvais was hurt.
“A little later some firefighters came into my house and told me I had to get out,” Beauvais said. “I came out and saw my car, which was sitting out front, was totaled and the bus had smashed through the front of the house.”
Neighbor Teri Carrick said her customary prayer before driving and started backing out of her driveway when she heard a thud.
A moment later, she looked into her rear-view mirror and saw the bus barreling out of control.
“If I hadn’t paused to pray and was 5 seconds further along . . . ” Carrick said. “I don’t even want to think about what would have happened to me.”
The children were released to their parents after being examined at the hospital; about five pupils went to school afterward, school officials said.
Officials said Ramsey had a clean record with no accidents and had been driving about one year for School District U46. School officials praised her handling of the bus.
“This could have been a really terrible situation,” said Jim Feuerborn, a district assistant superintendent. “The bus driver did an incredible job to keep the bus from flipping over. Frankly, it is a miracle this situation wasn’t worse.”
Carlson, who was transporting stone and gravel, had a clean record driving for the company, according to a company official who refused to give his name.
Carlson has been convicted of traffic violations four times since 1999: twice for speeding, once for driving a truck on the left side of the street and once for disobeying a traffic control device while driving his own vehicle, an Illinois secretary of state’s office spokeswoman said.
While there was much buzz in the hallways of the middle school about the crash Wednesday, Kimball School social worker Carol Nightingale said the children seemed to have recovered from the scare.
“Overall, I think they’re doing remarkably well,” Nightingale said. “Kids at this age are good about talking about what’s going on, and they need to talk about it.”
McCurtain said damage to the home was extensive. Workers had to reinforce its front before they were able to remove the bus late Wednesday afternoon.
