2 teens injured in car-bus accident
BAXTER - Two teenagers were injured shortly before 8 a.m. Monday after a passenger car rear-ended a school bus on Crow Wing County Road 48 at Chestnut Drive in Baxter, near the entrance to In-Fisherman Inc.
Baxter Police Chief Jim Exsted said one student from the bus, Danielle Monsrud, 16, and the driver of the passenger vehicle, Monica Rudolph, 17, Little Falls, were transported by North Ambulance to St. Joseph's Medical Center in Brainerd. Both were treated at the hospital and later released.
Two young people were injured when a car and school bus collided Monday morning on Crow Wing County Road 48 near the In Fisherman Inc. entrance. One student from the bus and the young driver of the car were taken to St. Joseph's Medical Center, where they were treated and later released. Brainerd Dispatch/Mike O'Rourke » Purchase reprints of this photo.
The driver of the bus, Gary Petersen, 52, Brainerd, was not injured.
Exsted said the bus was transporting about 20 ninth- and 10th-graders on Crow Wing County Road 48, or Highland Scenic Drive in Baxter, when the collision happened. Later Monday he said the cause of the crash was still being investigated. Because a school bus was involved, he said the State Patrol was assisting in the crash investigation.
Brainerd School District Superintendent Steve Razidlo, who was on the scene along with Willy Severson, director of schools, said he did not anticipate the injuries of the student on the bus were severe. He said the students who were not injured were transported to school by another bus. Later Monday, Razidlo said two students who were on the bus complained of soreness as the day went on.
Razidlo said most students used their cell phones to inform their parents of the crash, but the school district also talked with the families of all of the students on the bus to make sure they were doing all right Monday.
"I think the young gal driving the car was very fortunate she wasn't going any faster. Those big buses are built to withstand a collision. As anyone who was out there could see, the passenger vehicle was damaged pretty heavily where the bus sustained minor damage," Razidlo said. "Thankfully there were no serious injuries to anybody today."
The Brainerd Fire Department assisted North Ambulance with extrication of the injured teens. Officials from Reichert's Bus, which operates the school buses, also responded.
MIKE O'ROURKE may be reached at mike.orourke@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5860.
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.