Shuttle bus driver honked horn and tried to avoid head-on crash that killed two in KC
Two people died and one person was injured Thursday morning in south Kansas City when a minivan collided head-on into a shuttle bus that was picking up people with disabilities, police said.
The crash occurred at about 7:35 a.m. in a curve on Raytown Road just north of Interstate 470, according to the Kansas City Police Department.
A blue Chrysler Pacifica was headed north on Raytown Road when it crossed over the double-yellow center lines and into the southbound lane. A white Ford E450 shuttle bus operated by Eitas was headed south. The bus driver honked the horn and tried to avoid the crash, police said.
The two vehicles hit head-on, police said.
The driver of the minivan was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Police identified her Saturday as 39-year-old Misty White.
A female passenger behind the bus driver was killed, and the driver of the bus was critically injured in the crash.
A passenger in a wheelchair at the rear of the bus was uninjured but taken to the hospital as a precaution, Eitas said. Police earlier stated that serious injuries were reported.
The road was closed for about three hours while police investigated the crash. Video and audio recordings from the bus have been turned over to the police for review, according to Eitas.
Jake Jacobs, the executive director of the organization, said staff members have been in a state of shock since the wreck. In the 25 years they’ve provided transportation to people with developmental disabilities in Jackson County, this is the first time they’ve experienced a fatality, he said. The organization transports about 500 people to work each day.
According to Jacobs, two staff members who serve as drivers were on the bus at the time of the crash. One person was operating the bus while another was providing support, he said. The employee who was driving the bus survived the crash, but the other employee, a woman in her 70s, died at the scene.
The woman was identified, Saturday as 72-year-old Jacquelin C. Peters. Jacobs said she had been working for Eitas for about five years.
The organization has about 40 drivers who are dedicated to the people they support, getting to know the same people they give rides to each day, “like a big family,” Jacobs said. Now, the organization said it’s mourning the loss. Counselors are coming in Friday to meet with staff.
“She was an excellent driver,” Jacobs said. “A lot of her passengers in the morning are going to be asking why she’s not there.”
This story was originally published December 19, 2019 at 2:01 PM.
