A school bus driver has been hailed as a heroine after careering through gardens and only clipping a house thanks to skilful driving when the vehicle’s brakes failed.
The incident resulting in only two children being left with minor injuries happened at the intersection of Ziga and Rahway roads in the township of Edison in the US state of New Jersey on Wednesday morning, 18th October.
The CCTV footage shows the yellow school bus ploughing through a fence and crashing into a home before driving out of the property as the video ends.
According to police, just before the bus carrying 30 middle school students approached a stop sign, the vehicle’s brakes failed, probably due to mechanical failure.
According to local media, two John Adams Middle School students suffered minor injuries and the other kids including the driver were uninjured. The remaining students were later transported to school in another bus.
Police Chief Thomas Bryan said: “It is reported the driver tried to stop and could not stop at the intersection of Ziga on Rahway Road.
Bryan praised the driver’s actions, saying: “It was also reported to me that she did a great job of actually saving the children on board.
“She avoided hitting three other houses and ended up careening through the garage of another house, taking a couple of fences down before that.”
“It’s amazing that no one else was seriously injured.”
The residents of the house in which the bus crashed were not at home during the incident, according to local media.
The cleaning services who were present at the time were uninjured, local media reported.
Edison Township Public Schools Superintendent Edward Aldarelli told local media: “Their parents are currently with them right now, and we are getting updates on that.
“There are counselling services for the students who’ve been transported back to school.
“Our building principal, as well as our teachers and counsellors, are providing them with support.
“They’re obviously traumatized right now.”
The Department of Transposition is expected to inspect the bus as the investigation is ongoing.
