A Giles County school bus carrying Narrows High School students to a band competition ran into the back of a tractor-trailer this morning on Interstate 81 near Bristol. State Police say three students were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment as a precaution – no serious injuries reported. State Police have charged the bus diver with following too closely.
From State Police: At 10 a.m., Virginia State Police Trooper B.S. Davis responded to a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 81 at the 12 mile marker in Washington County. Traffic in the southbound travel lanes of I-81 had slowed when a Giles County Public Schools bus failed to slow down in time and rear-ended the truck in front of it. Eight of high school students on board the school bus complained of minor injuries. Five were treated by medics at the scene. Three were transported to Bristol Regional Medical Center as a precautionary measure. A Washington County Public Schools bus responded to the scene to transport the remaining students off the interstate. The driver of the school bus, Jonathan M. Spade, 40, of Pearisburg, Va., was wearing a seat belt and was not injured in the crash. Spade was issued a traffic summons for following too closely. The drive of the truck, a 63-year-old Roanoke man, was not injured in the crash. The crash remains under investigation.
