La Grange School Bus Strikes Van, Rolls Over
A La Grange I.S.D. school bus rolled over in a multi-vehicle accident on SH 71 Monday afternoon near West Point. There were no children on the school bus at the time.
The wreck happened around 3:06 p.m. approximately a half mile east of The Point convenience store in West Point according to a report from Trooper Louis Gabler of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The bus driver, 65-year-old Marion Fenix of La Grange, and another school district employee, 71-year-old Cassandra Warner, both suffered non-life threatening injuries. Fayette County EMS transported both by ambulance to St. Mark’s Medical Center in La Grange.
La Grange ISD Superintendent Bill Wagner said the bus was on its way to pick up some La Grange students from an instructional program in Smithville. Gabler’s report said Fenix was driving the bus west on SH 71 in the right lane. Gabler said a gray 2012 Honda Odyssey suffering mechanical problems was parked in the shoulder of 71. The report said an unknown white or light-colored vehicle attempted to pass the school bus in the left lane, but that vehicle “changed lanes when unsafe.”
Fenix took evasive action to avoid striking the rear of the passing vehicle. The bus swerved to the right and struck the Honda. The bus swerved to the left and back to the right before entering the ditch on the north side of the road. The bus rolled over on its left side facing north.
The driver of the Honda Odyssey, 19-year-old Lethan Andrew Hampton, told the Record he called AAA for help after his Odyssey broke down. Hampton said he was sitting in the middle seat working on a homework assignment on his laptop computer when the bus struck his vehicle. The impact threw him into the front seat. Hampton suffered some cuts, scratches and bruises, but he declined a trip to the hospital.
Both the school bus and the Odyssey suffered major damages. Gabler’s report said the white or light-colored vehicle that caused the accident during the lane change did not stop and continued driving west.