Twenty-two elementary children got a driving lesson they will never forget after school on Wednesday.
They got to see what driving too fast for road conditions looked like when a car hurtled at them out of control on Chief Lake Road.
They also got to see their bus driver's skills in action that minimized the damage and perhaps prevented greater injury when that car hit them head-on.
The crash happened halfway along the 12-kilometre straight stretch in front of Reid Lake Sod Farm. Witnesses and authorities investigating the incident said that the school bus driver could see the swerving car coming at them and acted with extraordinary calm.
"The school bus driver was able to stop the bus and put on the emergency lights to notify other drivers coming up behind them - before the collision occurred," said Prince George RCMP spokesman Cpl. Craig Douglass.
More than a half-dozen police members attended the scene to investigate the cause and direct traffic. The road was still closed in either direction as of press time.
Also on the scene were a squad of ambulance paramedics, a second school bus that ferried the unharmed children home, and team of trained volunteers from the Ness Lake Volunteer Fire Department who called in auto extrication specialists from the Beaverly Volunteer Fire Department's rescue division. They came with the jaws of life.
"The car went off road-right (south side of the road as it travelled in an easterly direction)," explained Douglass.
"The driver was removed first and taken to hospital with what is believed to be relatively minor injuries. The passenger was still trapped in the vehicle, which is why an extrication team was needed. She could not get out. She was conscious at the scene and paramedics were able to get in to her and keep her warm and provide some comfort under the circumstances while the extrication work was being done."
At about 5:30 p.m., more than two hours after the crash, she was finally freed and taken to University Hospital in serious condition.
According to police at the scene, the driver of the Chevrolet Cavalier was an 18-year-old female and the passenger was a 16-year-old female.
Douglass said driving too fast for the snowy conditions was, on first assessment, a probable factor.
"Any time you lose control on the road, you did not slow down enough for the conditions," he explained, barring any special circumstances. "We don't know yet if anything else or something unexpected was involved in this, but that is under investigation."
This was the second time on the same day a northern B.C. school bus was involved in a crash. Two students in Fort St. John were aboard a bus at about 7 a.m. Wednesday when it collided with a semi-rig on Milligan Creek Road.
The driver of the truck was airlifted to hospital. One of the children was taken to hospital in serious condition while the other student and the bus driver were both hospitalized for minor injuries. Fort St. John RCMP were still investigating and did not disclose any possible causes.
