4 Hospitalized After School Bus, Car Collide In Hamden

HAMDEN, CT — Four people were hospitalized after a crash involving a school bus and a car Wednesday morning in Hamden. The crash occurred around 7:15 a.m. at the corner of Lakeview and Benham Street, according to fire officials.

Officials said nine people were assessed and treated at the scene. Two students, the bus driver and the driver of the car were all taken to the hospital after the crash. There were three passengers in the car that refused medical treatment, fire officials said.

There were four New Haven Academy students on the bus at the time of the crash. The two other students were released to their parents at the scene. The bus was carrying Hamden students to the magnet school in New Haven.

Hamden and New Haven Public Schools were notified of the crash and both had representatives at the scene, fire officials said.

A preliminary police investigation found that the driver of the school bus was stopped, waiting to turn left onto Lakeview Avenue, and the car was traveling eastbound on Benham Street. The driver of the car, a 30-year-old Hamden resident, “lost control of his vehicle on the wet roadway,” according to Capt. Ronald Smith. The driver’s side of the car struck the front of the school bus.

The driver sustained serious injuries to his leg and hip and was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital, according to Smith.

The two teenaged students sustained head and neck injuries and were taken to Yale, along with the bus driver who had “aches and pains,” according to Smith.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Officer Kevin Hall of the Hamden Police Department Traffic Division at (203) 230-4036.