Charges have been laid against a 60-year-old bus driver from Chatham after a tanker swerved and rolled over west of Chatham to avoid t-boning a school bus.
It happened just before 9am on Tuesday at Grande River Line and Jacob Rd., but luckily there were no serious injuries.
The school bus with five students on board stopped at a stop sign, entered the intersection and wound up with a smashed driver's side window and side mirror.
Amelia Mathews, 9, was on the bus and says it was crazy.
Amelia Mathews, 9, following crash on Grande River Line near Chatham, May 9, 2017. (Photo by Paul Pedro)
“Five kids were on the bus and we bounced like crazy. The ambulance came by, but everybody is OK,” says Mathews.
The truck driver, who is being credited by police for saving lives, gave the bus driver a hug afterwards, asked if he was OK and told him he couldn't stop in time.
Drivers are being asked to avoid Jacob Rd. and Grande River Line while the fuel cleanup continues.
The area remains closed Wednesday afternoon and reopening time is unknown.
Approximately 35,000 L of diesel spilled into a nearby drainage ditch but didn't reach the Thames River.
Damage, including the cost of the cleanup, is pegged at more than $250,000, and the bus driver is now charged with failing to yield.
"“The bus was going through and he pulled the throttle. He was going up across the bridge but he saw the bus and he hit the brakes and turned the wheel so hard. He couldn’t stop so he ditched the thing and the bus hit it,” Mathews says.
Mathews says this has never happened to her before and she'll never forget it.
"When it hit the thing, we were just bouncing around being scared to death and mostly crying," says Mathews.