A Fayette County woman and her two sisters were critically injured Wednesday when their vehicle smashed into a tractor-trailer as they were rushing to Pittsburgh, where her daughter was among several students hurt in a school bus wreck.
None of the Laurel Highlands School District students was seriously injured in the wreck that occurred about 11 a.m. as they were en route to yesterday's Pirates game. Pittsburgh police said three buses were involved in a chain-reaction collision near the Wabash Tunnel at the base of Mt. Washington.
Senora Workman, 36, of Uniontown, whose 14-year-old daughter suffered a back injury in the bus wreck, was traveling to Pittsburgh with her two sisters and a niece shortly before noon when their vehicle struck a tractor-trailer parked near the Rostraver Airport along Route 51 in Westmoreland County.
Workman and her sisters -- Peggy Lohr, 46, of Farmington, and Rona Rockwell, 44, of Hopwood -- were flown to Pittsburgh hospitals where they remained in critical condition last night.
Their niece, Ashley Williams, 19, also of Hopwood, was treated and released from Mercy Hospital, Uptown.
Workman's daughter, Samantha, was treated and released from Mercy Hospital, said the teen's grandmother, Elaine Workman, of Uniontown.
Elaine Workman said Senora Workman, who suffered two broken arms and spleen, lung and facial injuries, and Lohr, who suffered head, eye, arm and rib injuries, are being treated in Allegheny General Hospital, North Side. She said Rockwell is being treated in Mercy Hospital.
"Senora was too upset to drive, so she asked her sister to drive to the hospital," Elaine Workman said.
Rostraver police said witnesses told them that Lohr was traveling at a high rate of speed when the vehicle came upon a sport utility vehicle partially blocking the passing lane of Route 51 near the intersection with Airport Road.
Lohr swerved to avoid the SUV and drove off the roadway, police said.
The women's vehicle struck a mound of dirt and a stop sign before flying 94 feet and smashing into the unoccupied tractor-trailer, police said.
"Several witnesses confirmed that (the women's vehicle) was traveling at a high rate of speed and in an erratic manner several miles prior to the accident," according to a police statement.
Elaine Workman said Rockwell was thrown through the windshield. Police said the other women were trapped in the wreckage.
Workman said her granddaughter was among several eighth-graders who were scheduled to sing the national anthem before the Pirates-Cardinals game.
The teen was with about 300 eighth-graders from the Laurel Highlands Middle School who were riding nine buses to the game.
Eight children suffered minor neck and back injuries, said Pittsburgh police Sgt. Ray Rippole. All were treated and released from Pittsburgh hospitals, he said.
A school district statement said six students were injured but agreed with Rippole that all the injuries were minor.
Principal Mary Macar and other school personnel accompanied the injured students to the hospital.
Police said the wreck occurred when a bus stopped at a traffic light. A second bus stopped behind it, but the next bus failed to stop and struck the rear of the second bus, which slammed into the first.
"We were right across the street inspecting a commercial truck when we heard this huge crash," Rippole said.
The buses had minor damage and were not towed. Laidlaw Bus Co. supervisors arrived with three new bus drivers. Officials took the three drivers involved in the wreck for drug and alcohol testing, which is company policy, police said.
Ron Machesky, the chief of security for the school district, said parents of the injured students were notified of the accident. His granddaughter was on one of the buses that was not involved in the wreck.
Those who were not injured were allowed to proceed to the game.
Elaine Workman said her son, Earl, who is studying to be a minister, rushed to the hospital to be at the bedside of his former wife and her sisters.
"We're a Christian family. They're divorced but still love this young woman," Workman said. "My son is in the hospital praying with her family."
Legislator pushes for
seat belts on buses
The buses involved in a chain-reaction wreck Wednesday near the Wabash Tunnel at the base of Mt. Washington in Pittsburgh had no seat belts.
State Sen. Wayne Fontana last month introduced legislation that would require seat belts on school buses. He said he hopes yesterday's crash will raise awareness of the need to require seat belts.
"It makes no sense to me that we have strict laws requiring seat belts in cars and other vehicles, but we don't take the same steps to protect the safety of our children when they travel to and from school or other events," said Fontana, D-Brookline.
His measure has been referred to the Senate Transportation Committee.
"We've seen buses roll over and kids thrown all over the place during accidents," he said. "If we think they should be restrained while in a car, then it is common sense that they ought to be restrained while on a bus."
An estimated 17,000 children are injured each year in bus-related accidents, according to the National Coalition for School Bus Safety, based in Torrington, Conn. About 25 million children ride school buses to and from school each year.
Dr. Alan Ross, the coalition's president, said getting laws passed to require safety belts on buses takes involvement by parents and others concerned about the safety of children.
Five states -- New York, New Jersey, Florida, Louisiana and California -- require seat belts on school buses. Similar legislation is being considered in 28 other states, Ross said.
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