Newtown School Bus Involved In I-84 Crash In Danbury

By Andrew Gorosko

A school bus traveling on Interstate 84 in Danbury, which was transporting 16 Newtown students home from the Danbury magnet school on Wednesday afternoon, was involved in a highway collision that sent two of the students to Danbury Hospital to be checked for injuries, authorities said.

The driver of a sedan that collided with that school bus also was transported to Danbury Hospital for treatment.

A Danbury Hospital spokeswoman said that magnet school students Jerusha Wright, 9, of 101 Alpine Drive, and Lucy Draper, 8, of 9 King Street, both were treated at the hospital emergency room and then released. Sedan driver Lucille Filous, 64, of Roxbury, also was treated and released.

The school bus carried a total of 19 people, 16 of whom are students at Western Connecticut Academy for International Studies Magnet School on University Boulevard in Danbury. The students are age 5 through age 11.

Danielle Voight, 23, of 12 Washbrook Road, was driving the school bus, state police said. Ms Voight had her 13-month-old child in a child safety seat on the bus. A teacher’s aide also was on the bus. The bus is owned by MTM Transportation, Inc.

State police said a 2007 Chevrolet Malibu sedan driven by Filous was traveling in the center lane of three lanes on eastbound I-84, east of Exit 4, about 3:52 pm. The school bus was traveling in the adjacent right lane.

Eastbound traffic then suddenly slowed due to an accident that had occurred on the westbound side of the highway. The slowing traffic caused the Chevrolet to brake hard and to swerve, going out of control, and entering the right lane, state police said.

The school bus then struck the passenger side of the Chevrolet.

State police said they issued Filous a written warning for traveling too fast for conditions.

Tony DiLonardo, director of transportation for Newtown schools, said, “It’s a shame [the accident] happened…It was unavoidable.”

 Mr DiLonardo said that another bus was dispatched to the accident scene to bring its occupants back to Newtown. The bus involved in the accident was towed away.