School bus-18 wheeler collide

A Crane Independent School District bus carrying special education students from Crane to Odessa collided with an 18-wheeler on Highway 385 on a foggy Monday morning.

Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Ray Florez said the accident happened just before 8 a.m. Monday. He said the 18-wheeler was facing west, waiting to turn south on Highway 385. The tractor was in the median and the trailer was across the northbound lanes of the highway at Highway 385 and Antiqua Street. The northbound bus collided with the left side of the tractor-trailer.

“The wreck could all be due to poor visability,” Florez said as he looked at the mangled front of the school bus.

Donna Lee, the driver of the bus, was taken to Medical Center Hospital with a broken knee, a fractured hand and minor cuts and bruises.

A 3-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy — both deaf education students — were passengers on the bus. Crane ISD contracts with ECISD to educate its deaf students.

The 14-year-old was taken to MCH by a Crane Independent School District employee, while the 3-year-old was taken to the same hospital by an Odessa ambulance.

None of the three were seriously injured, Florez said.

Enrique Mesa, the driver of the 18-wheeler wasn’t injured.

Firefighter Darrell Williamson said the boy was not going to be transported at first.

Witnesses said the boy looked dazed and was sitting in the grass while his family was covering him in blankets.

After looking at the crushed front of the Crane school bus, Williamson said that even though they were hospitalized, all three should feel “very lucky.”

“It would have been bad if the truck would’ve hit it a few inches past the driver’s door,” he said. “They got very lucky.”

Florez attributed the accident to the heavy fog and said no citations would be issued.