The Charles County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Operations Unit has charged the 16-year-old La Plata boy who was driving the 1995 Lincoln Continental that hit a Charles County school bus on Sept. 1 in La Plata. The boy was charged with failing to reduce speed in dangerous weather conditions, failure to stay right of center and person on provisional license transporting passengers under the age of 18.
Charles County Sheriff’s officers responded to 6400 block of Ellenwood Drive at 12:32 p.m. for the report of the crash. The investigation revealed that the Lincoln was traveling south on Ellenwood Drive when the vehicle crossed the center line and struck the northbound Charles County Public Schools bus head-on.
The La Plata teen who was trapped in the vehicle and required extensive extrication, and one of his teenage passengers sustained serious injuries. Both were transported by ambulance to Prince George’s Hospital Center. Their injuries were not life-threatening.
Another passenger in the vehicle, a 15-year-old La Plata girl, sustained minor injuries and was transported by ambulance to Civista Medical Center. They were all wearing seatbelts.
Per the standard procedure of Charles County Public Schools, the driver of the school bus, Donna Marie Rawlings, 46, of La Plata, and the 29 Milton Somers Middle School students onboard the bus were transported to Civista Medical Center. One student was transported by ambulance for treatment of minor injuries and the rest of the children and the bus driver were transported by another school bus for checkups. Officer S. Burrows of the Traffic Operations Unit investigated.