School bus driver charged following hit-and-run in Welland

Niagara police say a 77-year-old school bus driver has been charged after he was involved in a hit-and-run collision in Welland on Wednesday.

Police say they were called to the area of Canal Bank Street and Ontario Road around 7:50 a.m. for reports of a collision involving two vehicles.

Members of the Welland Fire Service had to extract the 47-year-old female driver from a blue Ford F150 pickup truck.

Police say the school bus failed to remain at the scene after the collision, and it was later observed by several community members driving northbound on Prince Charles Drive on only three wheels.

Shelley McClemont says she was heading to work when she saw the bus.

“I noticed it had no tire, and the whole front end was smashed,” said McClemont.

She says she followed the bus down to Prince Charles Drive, but she had to slow down, when she noticed sparks flying from the bus.

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When officers stopped the school bus, there were four children still on it.

The children and driver were assessed by emergency personnel and there were no significant injuries as a result of the collision.

The 77-year-old driver of the school bus has been charged with careless driving and failure to remain at the scene of a collision.

The intersection of Canal Bank Street and Ontario Road was closed while officers investigated but later reopened around 9:45 a.m.

“I think a lot could have gone wrong,” said Const. Philip Gavin.

“As this vehicle is driving down the road, we know that it was a front wheel that was lost on the driver’s side, so now you have issues of steering the vehicle, safely steering the vehicle, bringing it to a safe stop, there’s a number of issues there.”

Police say the investigation remains ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact police at 905-688-4111, option 3, ext. 1023300 referencing incident #24-8104.

Cover image courtesy of Bryanna Joss on Facebook.