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2 pupils hurt when bus driver hits brake

Officials say a car went through a stop sign, forcing the school bus driver to brake to avert a crash.

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published May 11, 2005

CLEARWATER - Two elementary school students were thrown from their seats and sustained minor injuries Tuesday afternoon when their bus driver stopped abruptly to avoid a collision, authorities said.

The students, a boy and girl, were taken to Morton Plant Hospital complaining of pain, said Clearwater police spokesman Wayne Shelor. The children, who attend Ridgecrest Elementary School in Largo, were not identified.

Bus driver Carol Maury was transporting 16 students north on N Fort Harrison Avenue about 2:30 p.m. when a car driven by Eldridge Bradley rolled into her path, Shelor said. Bradley had driven through a stop sign at N Myrtle Avenue, which merges with Fort Harrison.

After Maury hit the brakes to avoid a wreck, the two children fell out of their seats.

Bradley, 69, of Clearwater was later cited for failing to yield. At the scene, he declined to speak with a reporter.

As third-grader William Hinrichs bounded off the bus and to his mother's side, he said, "It was fun."

He smiled. "I'm okay," he assured his mother, Amy.

She had learned of the near collision from other mothers waiting at a bus stop a mile farther north on Fort Harrison. She kept her cool: Earlier this year, a car had clipped the bus in a minor wreck.

"We've been through it before," she said.

Jacob H. Fries can be reached at 445-4156 or jfries@sptimes.com

[Last modified May 11, 2005, 00:46:18]