Two children were taken to Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence with minor injuries after a multi-vehicle accident occurred on Kingstown Road in South Kingstown on Sept. 23 at 3:25 p.m.
A school bus taking 19 students home from West Kingston Elementary collided with two passenger cars, according to Tom Reed, Kingstown Fire District fire chief. The first car stopped directly behind the bus when one car rear-ended another at a slow speed. The momentum of the collision caused the bus to become rear-ended as well. All vehicles incurred minor damage.
“We call it an underride, the [first] car went underneath the back of the bus,” Reed said. “If a car goes underneath a bus, there would be more damage to the car than the bus.”
Police did not press charges against the three drivers, according to Reed. The car drivers refused transport. Everyone on the bus evacuated and Emergency Medical Services examined them. The process lasted around 90 minutes before the scene was officially cleared.
There was no root cause or intention for the collision, according to Reed. The second driver was driving the speed limit and wasn’t under the influence of alcohol. First responders speculate the cause was texting while driving or equipment failure within the car.
“Everyone needs to be aware of their surroundings,” said South Kingstown Police Chief Matthew Moynihan. “[South Kingstown] has a problem with distracted driving, people need to pay attention [to what’s in front of them].”
The largest delay in clearing the incident was getting transportation for the rest of the students, according to Moynihan. The students waited 45 minutes for the principal to arrive with another school bus to finish the route. Once the new bus arrived, the original bus with minor damage and the two other cars were towed away.
When an accident like this happens, the fire department either moves or takes the students out of the bus depending on the severity of the accident, according to Reed. The principal or superintendent will stay with the students until their parents or caregivers arrive to take them home.
This was the second incident involving West Kingston Elementary within the same week, according to Reed. Ten days prior to the accident, a small fire sparked in a heating unit on the east side corridor during dismissal. Since the alarm was triggered by the smoke in the building, students and faculty were outside before the fire department arrived.
Although the fire started at the end of the day, the two accidents delayed students’ dismissal time, according to Reed. The call came in at 3 p.m. and the department arrived at 3:15 p.m. The scene was officially cleared by 4 p.m.
After the fire incident, the fire department followed up with school, teaching fire education to students, according to Reed. The lesson included the danger of fire and reviewing what to do during a fire drill.
“To prevent a third accident, people need to pay attention to what’s in front of them,” Reed said.
