Driver in serious condition after crash into school bus

Thirty-nine students at Pedro Menendez High School started their day yesterday with an unexpected shock when Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Neil Mariotti tells Historic City News that the school bus they were riding was struck by the driver of an SUV.

According to Mariotti, when she tried to retrieve an object that had fallen from her passenger seat, 43-year-old Darla Boyd of St Augustine, lost control of her vehicle and failed to slow enough to stop before striking the right rear of a St Johns County school bus.

At about 8:50 a.m., Boyd was following behind the 2013 school bus, driven by 58-year-old Sharon Paris of Palm Coast. As the bus slowed on the southbound exit ramp of I-95 at SR-206, Boyd crashed into the bus; causing about $ 15000 in damages.

Neither the bus driver nor the students on board suffered any injuries, according to the crash report.

The front driver’s side of Boyd’s 2004 Ford Expedition sustained about $ 5000 in damages and the driver was transported by St Johns County Fire Rescue to Flagler Hospital in serious condition.

Boyd has been charged with careless driving, Mariotti told reporters.