Driver faces charges after broadsiding Riverbank school bus with 25 children on board
A Modesto woman faces a misdemeanor charge after she ran a stop sign and hit a school bus with 25 young children on board in Riverbank Thursday morning, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Brittany Hopkins, 22, was driving south on Central Avenue in a Ford F-350 pickup at about 8 a.m. when she failed to stop at a stop sign at Santa Fe Street, said CHP Officer Ming Hsu. The bus was going east on Santa Fe and did not have a stop sign.
The pickup broadsided the bus. Hsu said a 6-year-old boy bumped his head but he was not seriously hurt and no one else was hurt. The boy’s mother went to the scene and picked him up.
Another bus responded to the scene to transport the remaining students to school, said Riverbank Unified School District Superintendent Christine Facella.
“Parents of all students on the bus were contacted by the school and students were monitored throughout the school day,” she said. “Student Assistant Specialists were available for those students needing counseling.”
CHP Officer Tom Olsen said Hopkins will be cited on a misdemeanor charge of driving without a license and could also be cited for running the stop sign.
The CHP investigates all school bus crashes involving injury and/or children on board, regardless of where they happen.
Olsen said the investigating officer said it was the worst damage in a crash involving a school bus that he’s seen during his approximately 20-year career.
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 4:02 PM.
