35 People Involved—

SUV Collides With School Bus In

Evening Rush

By Andrew Gorosko

A sport-utility vehicle and a school bus collided on busy South Main Street during the evening rush on Friday, September 19, resulting in police closing a section of the thoroughfare to traffic for about 40 minutes.

The full-size school bus carried 33 people, of whom about 30 were high school-age students from Christian Heritage School, a K–12 private school in Trumbull, said police Sergeant Douglas Wisentaner.

There were no injuries in the accident, he said.

When the accident occurred, the schoolchildren were returning to Trumbull from a field trip which they had taken that day.

At about 4:45 pm, bus driver George Diaz, 58, of Bridgeport was traveling southward on South Main Street and then stopped for a southbound vehicle ahead of him, which was waiting to make a left turn near 85 South Main Street, police said.

Southbound motorist Susan Engler, 45, of 16 Bridle Path Trail, who was driving a 2007 Jeep Commander SUV, then applied her brakes, but was unable to stop before driving into the rear end of the bus, police said. The SUV carried one teenage passenger.

Volunteer ambulance staffers checked all the people involved in the accident, but found that there were no injuries, police said.

 Police contacted the school about the accident, after which another bus was sent to the scene to retrieve the students.

Newtown Hook & Ladder and Botsford firefighters went to the accident.

Police issued Engler an infraction ticket for following too closely.

During the 40-minute road closure, South Main Street was shut down to through-traffic near the collision site. Commuting motorists who encountered the backed-up traffic took alternate routes on their way home from work, if possible.