POWHATAN, Va. (WRIC) — A school bus driver and several students in Powhatan County were left reeling after a deer crashed through the windshield of their bus Thursday morning.
Just after 7 a.m. on April 1, a school bus was traveling north on Route 13 when a deer crashed through its front window.
Powhatan County Public Schools Interim Transportation Director Brian Bartlett tells 8News that the driver was traveling in a 45 mph zone when the deer came out on his left and “jumped in the air right about the time he hit it.”
The deer broke through the windshield and landed in one of the front seats of the bus on top of a student. The animal then rolled over into the aisle and tried to find its footing. The bus driver carefully stopped the bus and opened the doors to let the frightened animal escape.
The deer wasted no time bolting out of the bus, leaving the driver and students in shock at the crazy series of events that had just occurred.
“Did it land on you?” a student off camera is heard asking the boy in the front seat.
“Yes,” the student in a gray hoodie replies, causing the other students to laugh in disbelief. “I was trying to sleep,” he added.
Bartlett explains that it was lucky the student was already crouched down.
“It would have hit him in the chest or the top of his head or something. We are very lucky and he’s very lucky,” Bartlett said. “It could’ve very easily come in the drivers windshield as well, so the driver was very lucky too.”
As for property damages, the bus needed about $300 in repairs to the windshield, windshield wipers and the mirror above the driver’s seat.
“It’s a big job to do to drive that bus, watch the kids on the bus and the watch all the vehicles around, and then to have wildlife come through the windshield just added to it,” Bartlett said.
Watch the full video below:
