Three vehicle accident occurs returning from Penfield trip

Returning from Student Government Association’s annual Pilgrimage to Penfield event on Oct. 19, one of the eight charter buses experienced a three vehicle automobile accident. The bus was the second to last bus driving and contained 54 people onboard, including three SGA members and the bus driver.
No serious injuries resulted from the accident.
“All of the students on the bus were pretty calm, everyone was concerned about other involved vehicles. There was one girl that reported back pains from the accident,” said Nakita James, a student aboard the bus.
The accident occurred while traveling through Green County, before the overpass near I-20 and headed toward Gray. An SUV driven by a 17-year-old girl attempted to take a left turn in front of the moving bus.
“I assumed she misjudged the distance because when she was turning she took it way too late and hit the front end of the bus right below where the driver would be sitting. That caused her SUV to spin and it spun around a couple times before it rear ended another vehicle,” explained Senior Senator Branden Ryan, who was aboard the bus.
The driver of the SUV was taken to the hospital but no major injuries have been reported. There were three men in the third vehicle that was hit, but all three men sustained minor injuries, according to Ryan.
The accident caused a two-hour travel delay. The buses were expected to return to Mercer’s campus around 11:30 p.m. and did not arrive until 1:30 a.m.
“SGA wants to express our apology for the inconvenience that it happened,” said Ryan. “We understand that these things happen and we are incredibly thankful that all of the students reacted well, remained calm and were very supportive in shuffling around the bus situation so we could get everyone back safely.”