LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. — Two teens are in the hospital with serious injuries after their car rear-ended a Palm Beach County school bus Wednesday morning in Lake Worth Beach.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said the wreck happened just after 6 a.m. on 6th Avenue South near Interstate 95, on the first day of the new school year for Palm Beach County public schools.
According to a sheriff's office crash report, the school bus, driven by Julio Sierra, 60, stopped near the Tri-Rail train tracks on 6th Avenue South for a safety check with its safety lights activated.
A 2021 Chevy Malibu, driven by a 16-year-old boy from Greenacres, failed to stop and rear-ended the school bus.
The sheriff's office said Sierra didn't know the crash had happened and started driving again, dragging the Malibu along the road.
However, after crossing the train tracks, Sierra realized what had occurred and stopped the school bus.
According to the sheriff's office, the 16-year-old driver of the Malibu, along with a 15-year-old girl, were taken to St. Mary's Medical Center with serious but non life-threatening injuries.
Sierra and a 13-year-old Boynton Beach girl on the school bus were not hurt.
The names of the three teens involved have not been released.
A view from WPTV Chopper 5 showed the driver of the Malibu being placed onto a stretcher and loaded into a medical helicopter to be taken to the hospital.
The front of the Malibu was underneath the school bus as paramedics worked to rescue the driver. Crews had to remove the entire roof of the vehicle to get the teen out.
With the crash happening on the first day of school, Superintendent Mike Burke of the School District of Palm Beach County is sending a message to drivers.
"We just ask for people to be careful, to pay attention to the school zones, bus stops," Burke said. "Stop when buses are loading and unloading students. We’ve got big yellow buses. We’ve got a strobe light on top of it. They are real lit. So please just pay attention on the roads and watch out for our kids."