Man Injured In Rear-End Crash With School Bus; Students OK

April 23, 2019

The driver of a passenger car and one student were injured when a school bus was rear-ended Tuesday morning on Pine Forest Road.

Justin D. Patterson, 29, was northbound on Pine Forest Road just south of West Roberts Road about 7:07 a.m. when he failed to stop and collided with the Escambia County School District bus driven by 59-year old James Edward Roetter, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Patterson was transported with minor injuries to Sacred Heart Hospital by Escambia County EMS.

There were about 33 Pine Meadow Elementary School students on the bus.  All were evaluated by Escambia County EMS, and one student was transported to an area hospital with minor injuries.

The FHP cited Patterson with careless driving, failure to provide insurance and driving on a suspended license.

NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.

Comments

17 Responses to “Man Injured In Rear-End Crash With School Bus; Students OK”

  1. JAY on March 8th, 2020 1:47 pm

    10-12 was my son’s bus he got ankle hurt actually 2 kids got hurt
    he has a cast for 4-8 weeks without school or basketball.

  2. No Excuses on April 24th, 2019 6:12 pm

    @Fred – just rode a school bus today on a field trip. The seats are high enough for a head rest and the bus has seat belts. So, there you go! This guy didn’t care. There’s a good reason he had a suspended license, and what happened today is a good indicator of why.

  3. Fred on April 24th, 2019 8:39 am

    Why not use dash cam footage from buses the same way as red light cameras? If someone passes while the “stop” lights and sign are activated, turn it over to the police and have them cited appropriately. In this instance, the driver was probably looking down at his phone, so all the signs and lights on the world wouldn’t have helped. Another question – why don’t buses have seat belts and headrests for the kids?

  4. nod on April 23rd, 2019 9:35 pm

    people pass me in school zones all the time they just don’t care.

    I just had a great idea! maybe we should make the school buses real big and paint them yellow and add lots of flashing lights. then maybe people could see them.

  5. Freda Lee Whaley on April 23rd, 2019 3:05 pm

    Suspending a lissen doesn’t work. They drive anyway. Jail is the only thing that works. 40 years would be just about right. Just because he didn’t kill a child this time doesn’t mean he won’t drive again and finally kill someone.

  6. Eva Anderson on April 23rd, 2019 2:29 pm

    My son drives a school bus for Escambia co so people pleas watch what your doing when your driving don’t talk on your cell phone or text while driving whatch other people and watch out for buses and motorcycles stop at red lights stop at stop signs my husband and I have both had wrecks on highway 29 in the same year because they didn’t stop at the stop sign on the side road people you must stop at red lights and stop signs if you don’t your going to kill some one or cause serious injuries and slow down people I have seen a lot of fast drivers exceeding the speed limits.Whatch out for others at all times we have some crazy drivers who should have never gotten a fl license I am from north Al and I’ve never seen people drive so crazy.

  7. imagine that on April 23rd, 2019 2:03 pm

    Hmmmmmm, no insurance and a suspended license. Hard to believe that now isn’t it? A law-abiding citizen wouldn’t be driving when they’re not supposed to AND they’d be in a car that has insurance…right? This alarming and annoying trend only costs the folks who are legit more because now THEIR insurance has to foot the bill. In the case of this bus it will now cost taxpayer dollars to fix the bus, take care of the injured and make sure all is well again. What, you REALLY don’t expect the guy who hit the bus to magically be able to pay this did you?

  8. Valerie on April 23rd, 2019 1:29 pm

    He had to be speeding and following to close,
    Sorry to hear he is hurt and anyone on the bus. But everyone keeps speeding down that road

  9. Two eyes on April 23rd, 2019 12:55 pm

    Just looking at the article I see the car driver was driving on a suspended license, failed to provide insurance and may have had non-operational driver air bag. Does not appear that speed was an issue. Seems the driver may have been distracted. I do not wish injury on this man but he needs to obey the laws to protect himself and others. Thankful he did not seriously injure the children!

  10. Anne on April 23rd, 2019 11:48 am

    Hope the fella recovers okay.
    Air bags did not seem to inflate, steering wheel center is intact.
    Possibly this was a low speed impact from the car.

    Blessing that nobody was seriously injured or worse.

  11. Brian on April 23rd, 2019 11:15 am

    If any commissioners are reading I would like to know why pine forest dead ends at the subdivision and what the plan is to get thru traffic out of neighborhoods and back onto highways.

  12. Traveler on April 23rd, 2019 10:59 am

    I’ve been blessed to travel extensively in Europe Canada and Mexico, and all over America. I think Pensacola has the worst drivers, hands down. People get an attitude as soon as they get behind the wheel. Other than that, they’re actually pretty nice. I can understand drivers being angry in places like New York, Boston, and Los Angeles. But Pensacola really doesn’t have an excuse for this. Folks, please, chill out. prayers going up for the gentleman in the wreck, and I’m glad the kids are all okay!

  13. Joy on April 23rd, 2019 10:35 am

    I’m wondering if he had maybe a heart attach or a stroke behind the wheel. My prayers for him and his family.

  14. Jim on April 23rd, 2019 9:56 am

    Curious to know whether he was wearing his seatbelt. The cockpit area of the car seems to be fairly intact. At any rate, prayers for the man who was injured. Hope he comes through this okay.

  15. Amy on April 23rd, 2019 9:53 am

    So sorry he’s injured but drivers overall in this town fly and so many are insanely agressive. I’m from Tallahassee and even with 3 colleges those people aren’t half as bad as Pensacola drivers. I’ve been here 3 years and some days feel I may die not from natural cases but from a blooming car and its dangerous driver. SLOW down and BACK off Folks bottom line and we all will stay healthy and unharmed. I pray he gets well soon.

  16. ensley boy on April 23rd, 2019 8:57 am

    Since cars are going to rear end a School Bus perhaps the bus need to be equipped with a Mansfield bar.

  17. My2Cents on April 23rd, 2019 8:50 am

    Glad no kids were hurt. Hope he will be okay.