Enfield
The accident involving a First Student bus carrying students to Indian River School on Monday morning sent the other motorist and four students to the hospital.
Crate on Tuesday identified the school bus driver as Joseph Trottier, 70, of Wilder, and the driver of the Volkswagen Passat as Bonnie McCouch, 60, of Orford.
McCouch had stopped to make a right-hand turn into a strip-mall parking lot around 7:37 a.m. when the school bus driven by Trottier ran into the back of her sedan, which suffered extensive damage, Crate said.
Trottier had “looked away” briefly before he struck the car but tracking software on the bus showed there was “no sign he was speeding” or driving while distracted, Crate said.
The speed limit on that stretch of Route 4 is 30 mph, and Crate said Trottier was driving at about that speed.
Police opted not to cite Trottier because he was not “doing something that was criminal or negligent,” Crate said.
Crate said the students did not suffer any obious serious injuries, though one child’s forehead had a small cut.
Neither Trottier nor McCouch could be reached for comment on Tuesday. A phone message left for First Student was not returned.
Correction
The driver of a sedan struck by a First Student school bus in Enfield on Monday morning was taken to a hospital after the accident. An earlier version of this story misidentified which driver was injured.
