A school bus ended up with a rowing shell through its windshield after a collision with a truck and trailer on Friday.
Wetzel-Eden said the bus was headed east when it hit an icy patch near Renfrew and Decca roads about 8 a.m., said Shawnigan RCMP Const. Ian Wetzel-Eden.
“The bus ended up slipping on the corner and coming into the westbound traffic,” he said. “It struck the truck and trailer right at the base of the centre point where the hitch is.
“One of the boats [on the trailer] came into the school bus, missing the driver but causing some minor injuries.”
Twelve students from George Bonner Elementary School and École Cobble Hill Elementary were on the bus at the time, Wetzel-Eden said. The students were shaken up but otherwise fine when assessed by ambulance paramedics at the scene.
Both the bus driver and the truck driver — national-team rowing coach Terry Paul — were taken to Cowichan District Hospital to be checked out. RCMP Victim Services went to both schools to talk to affected students.
The trailer was carrying boats from Rowing Canada Aviron. Rowers were in the area for a workout on Shawnigan Lake.
It was an unusual set of circumstances, Wetzel-Eden said. “All in all, it could have been a lot worse than it was.”
Cowichan Valley school district superintendent Rod Allen said there is huge relief that no students were hurt.
“It shows the strength of having professionally trained drivers,” he said, noting that traffic incidents involving school buses are “very rare.”
He said the driver ignored his wounds to help the students.
“It’s great to see a driver, who as it turns out was somewhat injured, take care of the kids and get them out of the bus and get them safe before looking after himself,” Allen said.
“That’s just a tribute to the professionalism of that individual driver, and all of our drivers.”
Terry Dillon, chief executive for Rowing Canada Aviron, said it was good to hear everyone involved will be all right.
“This was an unfortunate accident, but it appears no one was seriously harmed,” he said in a statement. “The safety of our RCA athletes, coaches and support staff is always our No. 1 priority and we will ensure that Terry [Paul] and anyone else impacted by this incident has our full support.”
Both vehicles were towed.
Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement was notified, and will be conducting its own investigation
Renfrew Road was closed between Worthington Road and Shawnigan Lake School while police dealt with the situation. The road reopened about 1:50 p.m.
