Driver injured trying to stop school bus with students onboard from coasting down the road

Laura Esposito / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A bus driver was injured Wednesday morning when a school bus transporting students coasted down the street, according to a Pittsburgh Public Schools spokesperson.

In an email to the Post-Gazette, PPS spokesperson Ebony Pugh said the bus driver — who is employed by A1 Transportation — had exited the bus outside of Pittsburgh Minadeo in Squirrel Hill when it began to coast down the road with students onboard. The driver, whose name has not been released, sustained injuries trying to reenter the bus before it crashed into a fence and a pole on the school’s property, Ms. Pugh said. No one else was injured.

The driver was taken to a hospital, Ms. Pugh said. She did not comment on their condition.

Following the incident, the elementary school was placed under a secure protocol — a precaution to keep students and staff safe when there is a threat or hazard outside of a school building — and an investigation is ongoing, Ms. Pugh said.