CPAC bus has near miss

Home News CPAC bus has near miss

Just after 3 a.m. this morning, one of the four charter buses with Hillsdale College students on its way to the Conservative Political Action Committee hit a bump, swerved, and tilted onto two wheels – but managed to stay on the road, according to students on the buses.

The bus mostly held students from other colleges and universities, with only a few Hillsdale students on the bus, according to Young Americans for Freedom President senior Nathan Brand. After the driver corrected the bus, the students continued to a rest stop, where students and drivers were questioned by authorities.

No one on the bus suffered injuries, but sewage from the toilet splashed on people and property during the incident. Brand said the students were encouraged to take pictures of everything, so they could be reimbursed for losses.

“I was trying to sleep when it happened,” sophomore Mclain Driver said. “I heard our bus driver say, ‘oh my god!’ I saw the lead bus veering to the left off the road. They hit the shoulder, and there was this huge cloud of dust. They veered back over, and I saw the bus start to tip.”

Freshman Razi Lane was on the lead bus that almost flipped.

“Basically, we hit a groove in the side of the road,” Lane said. “The driver overcorrected, the bus went up onto two wheels, and then settled back down. The sewage in the back of the vehicle did flood part of the bus, so that was another reason why we weren’t able to continue with that bus.”

Brand said the caravan waited five hours to get a new bus and driver. The other two buses waited for the fourth in the caravan to be restored.

“I know for sure the kids were shaken up,” Brand said. “A girl said she hit her head, another boy said he got a cut on his side, but I think paramedics decided they were OK.”

Brand said all Hillsdale students are safe, and the worst injuries are just a few scrapes and bruises. The group restarted its trek to CPAC at 8:30 a.m. and arrived in National Harbor, Maryland, just after 3:00 p.m.