COLLIN COUNTY, Texas — Officials say a 9-year-old was killed in a multi-vehicle crash on a bridge involving a Princeton ISD school bus on Jan. 31.
No one on the bus was injured.
The Collin County Sheriff's Office said the accident happened at about 3:44 p.m. on the FM 3286 bridge over Lavon Lake. It is also known as Lucas Bridge Road.
Four vehicles were involved: a Jeep, a sedan, a work van and the school bus.
The Texas Department of Transportation says a preliminary investigation indicates the Jeep Wrangler rear-ended the sedan, causing the sedan to hit the commercial van, and the Jeep then hit a retainer wall and side-swiped the school bus.
The Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed 9-year-old Abigail Kate-Rascher of Princeton, who was a passenger in the sedan, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.
Dashcam video from the bus that was released by school officials on Wednesday, Feb. 7, showed the bus comin to a stop, with tires screeching, and then the bus appears to be hit from behind. The video did not show the collision, but the impact could be heard on the video.
According to a statement from the bus driver, the bus was in traffic on the bridge and started a "slow roll" and then came to a stop.
"All of a sudden, I hear tires screeching and the bus gets hit," the driver wrote in the statement, which was provided by the Princeton school district. "I got on the radio and told dispatch what had happen[ed], got up and aske all the students if they were OK."
The driver said he did not see the impact of the vehicle hitting the bus "but I did see the white truck go to the right and the red car went to my left."
Lovejoy ISD said Rascher was a third grader at Hart Elementary.
"Abigail's joyful, fun personality and smile filled the room with light," the principal wrote in a letter to parents. "She loved all subjects and was a great friend to her classmates."
The driver of the sedan, Jennifer Rascher, 41, was taken to a local hospital with "non-incapacitating injuries," according to Texas DPS.
The driver of the Jeep, Jose Loyola, 20, was also taken to a local hospital with minor injuries, officials say. No other injuries were reported.
The Texas Department of Transportation says a preliminary investigation indicates the Jeep Wrangler rear-ended the Nissan Versa.
"Traffic was backed up at the time," said Department of Public Safety Sgt. Kyle Bradford. "Obviously we’re still doing the investigation to find out if there was something else involved that caused that Jeep to run into the back of that vehicle.”
The call came in just as Princeton Fire Department Battalion Chief Steve Gammons was ending his shift.
"It's probably one of the most terrifying calls to come in for traffic accidents," he said.
Any crash on the narrow two-lane bridge is worrisome, but especially one involving a school bus with kids on board.
"One wrong move and they could be off the bridge," he said. "We could be looking at a totally different situation with lake rescues."
First responders said the wreck still weighed heavily on them a day later.
"This one hit me a little harder than the other ones," Lucas Fire Chief Ted Stephens said.
He said his department has been responding to more and more wrecks as more people move to the area, putting more traffic on narrow roads.
"There’s more traffic which means more wrecks," Stephens said. "The influx of people has increased our call volume."
Neighbors down Lucas Bridge Road said the wrecks continued -- with another reported at the corner with Brockdale Park Thursday morning.
"It really kind of speaks to the need for focus and safety and really looking at the speed limits," said Alex Pritzos who lives nearby. "We’ve only been here since early November and there’s already been four or five wrecks that we’ve seen just right here at this corner."
He said his neighbors have begun asking local leaders to lower the speed limit and add a stoplight on the road.
"I don't think these roads are designed to handle this number of cars," Pritzos said.