CHIMACUM — A 40-year-old Quilcene man died and a 7-year-old boy was airlifted to a Seattle hospital Friday morning after the car in which they were riding collided with the back of a school bus, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said.
Four students and the driver who were on the bus at the time were not injured, said Brett Anglin, patrol sergeant for the Jefferson County Sheriff Office (JCSO).
Parents of the students on the bus were notified of the collision and picked their children up at the scene, Anglin said.
The Quilcene man has yet to be identified, Anglin said.
“The driver of the vehicle heading north, that struck it (the bus), appeared to not see it slowing down or stop,” Anglin said. “That vehicle was occupied by two people. It appears that they were also heading to school to drop off the child for school.”
East Jefferson Fire Rescue crews responded about 8:10 a.m. to the collision on Center Road just south of Ole Torkelson Road.
The school bus was headed north in the 1500 block of Center Road toward Chimacum Elementary School, Trooper Katherine Weatherwax said.
The bus driver reported that she was slowing down to pick up another student and suddenly felt the bus jolt, fire officials said.
The collision was reported by a parent, who was waiting at a bus stop with her children, Anglin said.
Fire crews located a Toyota Camry that had suffered significant front-end damage as half of the vehicle was under the rear of the bus, fire officials said.
“East Jefferson Fire Rescue responded to the scene and attempted life-saving efforts on the male, as he was also pinned in the vehicle at the time,” Anglin said. “Those efforts eventually were unable to save his life.”
A preliminary investigation concluded that the bus may not have been completely stopped when it was struck by the Camry, Anglin said.
The boy was taken by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, accompanied by his mother, Anglin said.
JCSO and Washington State Patrol were on the scene, Anglin said.
The cause of the collision is still under investigation by JCSO, with assistance from the State Patrol, Anglin said.
