A small paratransit bus collided with a horse early in the morning of Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014, resulting in the death of the horse and minor injury to the bus driver. Sometime between 6:30 and 7:00 in the morning, the bus was traveling near the 4300 block of Cold Spring Creamery Road (between Church School Road and Burnt House Hill Road) in Doylestown, Penn., a small city in Pennsylvania’s Bucks County. The horse, which was running loose at the time of the accident, reportedly ran in front of the bus before the driver had a chance to safely stop or avoid the collision.
Two students were on board the bus en route to school at the time of the crash. They are reported to have been taken to an area hospital to be checked for injuries, and although shaken by the experience, neither student has sustained any physical injuries as a result of the collision. It is not known at this time to whom the horse belonged or why it was running free along the roadway, but the area is known for its many farms and ranches, so horses are far from being a rare sight in the region. It is presumed that the horse somehow escaped from its corral from a farm in nearby Buckingham, located a few miles east of Doylestown.
The driver was taken to a local hospital in order to have his injuries evaluated after a preliminary check was conducted by paramedics from Doylestown Fire Company. The bus itself sustained major damage to its front end, including a completely smashed windshield, as a result of the crash. The horse is reported to have been killed immediately on impact. There were traffic delays as the scene of the accident was cleaned up and travelers were forced to take detours around the area in order to reach their destinations.