A bus driver was cited for failure to maintain control after his bus carrying about 20 students from a school in western Iowa’s Cass County collided with a tractor Monday evening in Guthrie County. Cumberland-Massena-Anita School District Superintendent Dan Crozier says the students from the CAM Middle School in Massena were enroute to a softball game in Coon Rapids, when the accident occurred at around 4:50 p.m.
At least three students suffered minor injuries. Crozier says he knows for certain two students were hurt. One of the girls suffered a concussion, while another had a pulled muscles in her shoulder and had to have her arm put in a sling. Guthrie County Sheriff’s Deputy Todd Thorne says the accident happened shortly after the bus driven by 54-year old Clifford Huff of Massena topped a hill on Frontier Road, about four-miles north of Adair.
Thorne says a tractor near the bottom of the hill was waiting for traffic so it could turn into a farm field. The bus couldn’t stop in time and ran into the rear of the tractor. The tractor operator was identified as 53-year old Donna Lehman, of Adair. Neither Huff nor Lehman were injured. Deputy Thorne said Huff was cited for failure to maintain control. Crozier says the bus stayed on the road during the crash.
Afterward, the shaken students, some of whom were fourth-graders, were allowed off the bus to calm their nerves. The superintendent says the damage to the bus and tractor was minor, and he’s just grateful the injuries weren’t more severe.