A Proctorville man was cited for unsafe speed after his vehicle collided with a South Point school bus on County Road 58 in Fayette Township Friday.

Sunday, February 06, 2000

A Proctorville man was cited for unsafe speed after his vehicle collided with a South Point school bus on County Road 58 in Fayette Township Friday.

Richard Hysell, 19, of Proctorville, who was driving a 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse, was cited after the 2:30 p.m. head-on collision, Ohio Highway Patrol dispatcher P.D. Baer said.

"Richard said he was going to the vocational school to pick up his friends," Baer said. "He said he was allegedly going 40 to 45 miles per hour. He said he was sliding and slid into the oncoming lane."

Even though there was no posted speed limit on that section of County Road 58, and 55 miles per hour is allowed, a person can still be cited for unsafe speed if he or she is driving too fast for road conditions, Baer said. At the time of the incident, the roads were rain-slick, Baer said.

The South Point bus driver, Curtis D. Roberts, 35, of Chesapeake, stopped the bus when he saw Hysell’s car, according to the OHP accident report.

"Curtis was on Sunrise heading toward Solida Road," Baer said. "He said he always slowed down at the top of the hill. He saw the car coming so he stopped."

None of the nearly 35 high school and middle school students aboard were injured, said Rick Waggoner, South Point superintendent.

The bus suffered repairable damage, he said.

"Fortunately, none of the students were hurt," Waggoner said. "That’s our main concern. All the kids said they were fine."

The students were removed from the scene immediately. The driver had been transporting the students from the vocational school to South Point. Another South Point bus was behind the first one and was able to take the children the rest of the way to the school, Waggoner said.

The Eclipse sustained considerable damage and Southeast Ohio Emergency Medical Service technicians transported a passenger in the car, Christopher Scarberry, 17, of South Point, to Cabell-Huntington Hospital for minor injuries, Baer said. The driver was uninjured, he said.

Fayette Township Volunteer Fire Department No. 2 also responded to the scene. Firefighters kept the road clear of traffic while the vehicles were removed from the scene by Ferris Wrecker Service.