FREDONIA — The TMJ4 Lighthouse team is going in-depth after a crash involving a school bus in Ozaukee County.
A school bus transporting Random Lake School District students was involved in an accident Monday morning. It happened near Highway E and Jay Road, near the town of Fredonia. Police say a black Jeep Grand Cherokee was traveling east on Jay Road when it blew through a stop sign at County Highway E, hitting the school bus in the middle of the driver's side. First responders say the bus spun 180 degrees, tipped over onto the passenger side, and came to a stop in the ditch.
There were 36 students on the bus, ranging from elementary to high school age. Eight of those students were injured and taken to area hospitals by ambulance. Their injuries ranged from minor to serious, but police say none were life-threatening. The school bus driver and two people who were traveling in the Jeep were sent to the hospital with minor injuries.
TMJ4 News uncovered Wisconsin Department of Transportation data that shows there have been at least half a dozen crashes at the same intersection over the past decade, resulting in injuries. Three crashes have happened this year.
Watch: 'What more is it going to take:' Calls for changes at site of school bus crash
TMJ4 Lighthouse reporter Ryan Jenkins spoke with Carrie Meloy, who had a son riding the school bus when the crash happened. He also spoke with Lisa McGuire, who said her husband survived a crash at the same intersection in September 2021. Both women are calling for changes to the intersection.
"He's okay—bumps and bruises," said Carrie Meloy about her son, Chase. "He's like, all of a sudden there were people screaming and yelling, and the bus was on its side."
Carrie said she rushed to the scene after hearing about the crash. When she got there, she wasn't surprised by what she saw.
"I'm not surprised. It's not a good intersection. There's been a lot that has happened there," she said. "You cannot see from Jay Road coming out that way, and you cannot see from the hill."
Carrie's neighbor, Lisa McGuire, shared her concerns too.
"My husband had just got done dropping our kids off at school for football practice, and on his way home, a driver had run a stop sign, and he T-boned her," she said.
Lisa said her husband, Zac, is healed now but was injured and out of work for about a year. Lisa said she has been avoiding the intersection lately.
"It's becoming more and more common. I've had it almost happen to me several times," McGuire said.
The two lifelong neighbors are now asking leaders in Fredonia and Ozaukee County to make the road safer.
"I guess, for me first and foremost, I'd like to see those trees gone and maybe rumble strips or something else to alert those people who might not be watching the road," said Meloy.
"Lights around the stop sign, even. Put in a roundabout, make it a four-way stop—something. I don't know what has taken so long," said McGuire.
Those calls for change come ahead of a Town of Fredonia board meeting next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
"What more is it going to take? It should not have taken a school bus accident for something to change," said Meloy.
The crash is still under investigation.
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