Parents say bus accident was worse than reported

Staff Writer

By sue m. morgan

Parents say bus accident
was worse than reported

OLD BRIDGE — The parents of three of the passengers involved in a school bus accident Jan. 10 on Pension Road are saying that, contrary to published reports, their children sustained major injuries and psychological trauma resulting from the accident.

Larry and Michelle Roth, and Randee Pomerantz, all of Manalapan, Monmouth County, have said the police reports given to Greater Media Newspapers have downplayed the extent of their children’s injuries.

The one-vehicle accident occurred on a reportedly icy stretch of Pension Road in Old Bridge between Raceway Park and Union Hill Road in Manalapan as the students were en route to the Rutgers Preparatory School in Franklin Township.

Old Bridge police reported that the driver of the mini-bus, June Denes, 40, of the Iselin section of Woodbridge, was driving 30 mph in the 25 mph zone on Pension Road. Denes attempted to navigate a left bend in the road, and the bus began to fishtail, according to the report.

The bus traveled into the eastbound lane, and Denes tried to correct it. Denes reportedly tapped the brakes, and the bus fishtailed in the opposite direction, causing it to skid in a half-circle. The bus then reportedly slid approximately 15 feet across the grass at the edge of Pension Road westbound. The driver’s side of the bus hit a drainage ditch, and the bus rolled over, coming to rest on its passenger side on Raceway Park’s track, the report said.

An Old Bridge police spokesman said the impact of the crash resulted in minor injuries to the driver and its 12 passengers, who ranged in age from 8 to 16.

Larry Roth, whose daughters, Jenna, 15, and Erin, 11, were on the bus, said his daughters told him, "‘Everyone was sprawled on top of each other.’"

Randee Pomerantz, who said her daughter, Morgan, 14, sustained a concussion from the crash, said the scene was more chaotic than originally reported. Pomerantz said she received a cell phone call from Morgan asking her to come to the scene right after the accident occurred.

"She said, ‘We were in a terrible accident, and the bus flipped over, and the kids are hurt,’ " Pomerantz said, adding that she and her husband, Allen, rushed to the scene and arrived before the paramedics.

"It was a scene of devastation. The kids were all over the place. There were book bags all over the place," Pomerantz said.

The section of Pension Road where the bus skidded was very icy, Pomerantz said. When she and her husband first arrived at the scene, Pomerantz said she tried to get out of her car to help the bus passengers, but the icy conditions almost caused her to slip on the road herself, she said.

Cheryl Beck, an employee of Raceway Park, said she heard the police sirens as they approached the accident scene. She went outside to move the barricades to allow the emergency vehicles to enter the race course. Like Pomerantz, she noted the road’s icy conditions.

"While we were out there trying to take care of the kids, the salt trucks came through," Beck said in a telephone interview.

Beck also said Raceway Park management has in the past had to contact the township’s Public Works Department requesting sanding during icy conditions near its property.

She said she believes the township does not salt the road beyond the residential area.

However, Rocky Donatelli, Old Bridge’s public works director, disputed Beck’s claims, saying that school bus routes like those on Pension Road are usually sanded first.

"Every time we get icy weather, we have our sander go out and do the bus routes first," Donatelli said.

In preparation for school-bound and rush-hour traffic, bus routes like the one on Pension Road are usually done between midnight and 6 a.m., Donatelli said.

"We want the kids on the buses and even the parents driving their kids to school to be safe," Donatelli said. "We do the best we can."

Regarding the extent of the injuries, Roth said that Jenna was diagnosed with severe whiplash after being taken to CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township, and sustained multiple bruises on her back and neck.

"She (Jenna) can hardly move her neck," he said more than a week following the accident. "She has not been to school since the accident."

Roth said that his younger daughter, Erin, also sustained multiple bruises, especially on her back. He added that one of her arms was in a splint and the other in a sling, and that she was hardly able to write in the weeks following the accident.

Both of his daughters have been having nightmares since the accident as well, he said.

As of Jan. 29, both daughters had returned to school, Roth said. He said Jenna was still experiencing back and neck pains and Erin still was having trouble writing. Both were still experiencing headaches, he said.

Neither student had returned to riding on the bus, Roth said, as their parents were taking them to school.

Morgan was out of school for a week, Pomerantz said.

Rutgers Preparatory School Headmaster Steven Loy verified last week that all students involved in the accident had returned to school.

The police report indicated that Jenna and Erin had head and neck injuries, while Morgan reportedly injured her shoulder and arms. The report also indicated that all of the passengers had "complaints of pain."