Family of 3 collide with a bus

A small car and a bus crashed on Monday night. It happened around mile eleven on the Western Highway, just outside of Hattieville.  Thirty-three year old Melissa Almendarez and her two children were heading home when they spotted a green passenger bus parked half way on the road with no indicators. Thirty one year old Rodcliff Williams had experienced mechanical problems and Almendarez says that there was another bus on the other side of the highway rendering assistance. Almendarez’ small car crashed into the back of Williams’ bus.

Melissa Almendarez, Involved in Accident

“I saw the approaching on my left side yuh know the traffic and then of course the lights of the other bus because there are two involved. So but it seemed different because it wasn’t moving yuh know because it was just this stagnant light just there. And then as we got closer I could see the image of the second bus that was broken down and parked on the road. I mean the first instant reaction is to try and stop, and then try to get off there was no way to go so either in the middle, in the next lane or of course directly into the back of the other vehicle. Fortunately we hit the right tail end that was off the highway and that impact yuh know it smashed the car and I am still here to talk about it.”

Andrea Polanco

Melissa Almendarez

“But that bus didn’t have any lights, any indication that it was there on the street?”

Melissa Almendarez

“Exactly, the one that we collided yuh know crashed into there was nothing to say yuh know no lights, nothing blinking, nothing at all, no signs, no warning. No putting of branches on the road, no cones, nothing at all. So it was just a shock umm and like I said fortunately coming off the curve we weren’t going really, really fast so we had some time to reduce the impact a little bit.”

Andrea Polanco

“Talk to us about the damage to your car?”

Melissa Almendarez

“I guess in real terms it’s totaled there’s nothing to try and fix. I don’t know how we got out honestly.”

Andrea Polanco

“Do you know if any of the passengers on either of the buses were injured?”

Melissa Almendarez

“Umm, certainly as far as I know, none.  Because the bus that I collided into people were there for about ten or fifteen minutes so they were not in the bus. It just suffered a small dent really; my car took the most of the impact.”

Almendarez’ eleven year old daughter was sitting in the front passenger seat and suffered minor injuries to her right wrist and left ankle. She was treated at the KHMH and released. Almendarez and her thirteen year old son escaped unhurt.