Girls’ lucky escape in bus stop crash

Two Tauranga Intermediate pupils had the fright of their lives this morning when a car smashed into their bus stop on Osprey Drive in Welcome Bay.

The girls – both 11-years-old – were looking down the hill and failed to spot the car that passed just in front of them, before it took out the downhill side of the bus stop and slamming into the bank behind it.


Two girls were lucky to emerge unscathed after a car smashed into this Welcome Bay bus stop this morning. Photo: Bruce Barnard.

The driver, who came out of Meander Drive, is believed to have suffered a seizure and lost control of his vehicle.

Mother of one of the girls Sarah Gilmore says: 'Apparently the guy had a seizure as he was coming around the corner. He basically lost control of the vehicle and crashed into the bus stop just on Osprey Drive across the road from the park.

'The bus stop has been taken out almost completely and he took out a light pole on the way down. I think another person directed his vehicle in front of his to slow him down and pushed him into a bank to stop him.

'The girls were sitting at the other side of the bus stop to where the guy hit. They didn't see it coming at all and they were looking in the other direction.

'They are just two very lucky girls that weren't in the wrong place.”

Police say one person was injured in the crash, which happened around 8am, but the driver was taken to hospital.

Western Bay of Plenty road policing manager Senior Sergeant Ian Campion says: 'I do know there is some suggestion that a medical episode may have contributed to the crash, but I don't have specifics until it is confirmed.”

Tauranga St John Ambulance says a man in his 30s and a ten-year-old boy were in the vehicle. The man is believed to have suffered a medical event.

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2 comments

Seizure

Posted on 18-05-2015 14:20 | By maildrop

This seems to happen quite a lot doesn't it? I would have thought that people with "seizure" issues would not be allowed to drive once the condition is diagnosed? You can't allow someone to play Russian roulette with other people's lives. I am sure the authorities will get to the bottom of it and take the necessary measures. Lol.


LOL? Really?

Posted on 19-05-2015 11:31 | By tish

It might be his first seizure, he might have history but is cleared to drive. He might have some new medication. There is no mention of anything other than a possible, unconfirmed seizure. Do you actually know the driver, or are you reading some other, different news item to the rest of us?


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