Minor injuries reported in Elgin school bus crash
An off-duty firefighter reported the crash at Lambert Lane and Lake Street at 6:51 a.m. Five Streamwood High School students were on the bus, and the injuries were not thought to be serious, Elgin police Cmdr. Ana Lalley said. A passenger in the van, one high school student and a 50-year-old school assistant riding in the bus were taken to area hospitals.
The student was treated and released and the school assistant might still be at the hospital, Elgin Area School District U-46 spokeswoman Mary Fergus said Wednesday evening.
The bus was traveling west on Lake Street and attempting to turn south onto Lambert Lane, when the collision occurred with the eastbound van, Lalley said. Investigators have not determined who is at fault in the crash, Lalley said.
Residents of the Castle Creek of Elgin subdivision on Lambert Lane south of Route 20 had complained to the city council about traffic at that intersection in late 2015, when the city OK'd plans for a new trucking company there.
At the time, Elgin police said there had been 17 crashes there since 2012 due to reasons including lane violation, rear-end crashes at the light and weather conditions. Crash data for 2016 was not immediately available on Wednesday.
Resident Susana Rio Mangriotis said she witnessed "a bad accident" there over the Christmas period. She first contacted police about the dangers of the intersection in December 2012, she said.
Residents had asked the city to conduct a traffic study, but city officials directed them to the Illinois Department of Transportation, which has jurisdiction over Route 20.
"Our community leaders need to take action to help prevent further accidents at that location," resident Andrea Evensen said.
Police conducted a one-week traffic speed study there in late March and early April that showed that, on average, 46 out of 435 vehicles per hour exceeded the speed limit by 10 miles per hour or more, Lalley said. "The majority were compliant," she said.
That speed study focused on westbound traffic; police plan to conduct another speed study for eastbound traffic in the next few weeks, Lalley said.